Hydrothermal synthesis of hierarchical flower-like α-CNTs/SnO2 architectures with enhanced photocatalytic activity

The hierarchical flower-like alpha-CNTs/SnO2 architectures composed of curved sheets are synthesized with hydrothermal method at 160 degrees C for 8 h. The alpha-CNTs/SnO2 composite was doped with alpha-CNTs during preparation, the photocatalytic activity of alpha-CNTs/SnO2 was evaluated by photodegradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) under simulated visible light. The results showed that the photocatalytic activity of alpha-CNTs/SnO2 for degradation of RhB was up to 90.35% within 120 min, which was much higher than that of pure compound. It was significantly found that the introduction of alpha-CNTs, which may suppressed the recombination of photogenerated electron-hole pairs on the interface of SnO2, leading to enhanced photocatalytic activity.