Green Synthesis of Mixed ZnO-SnO₂ Nanoparticles for Solar-Assisted Degradation of Synthetic Dyes

In this work, ZnO, SnO2, and their mixed ZnO-SnO2(25%) nanoparticles (NPs) were successfully green synthesized in a straightforward manner with a low-cost and environmentally friendly approach using a banana peel extract. The synthesized nanophotocatalysts were characterized using various techniques including FTIR, XRD, UV-Vis, TEM, SEM, BET, PL, EDS, and TGA. The characterization results showed that the ZnO and SnO2 powders were crystallized in a hexagonal wurtzite and rutile-type tetragonal structures, respectively, and their mixed ZnO-SnO2(25%) NPs contain both structures. Also, it was found that the addition of SnO2 into the ZnO structure reduces the PL intensity of the latter, confirming better separation of electron/hole pairs. The average particle size of a ZnO-SnO2(25%) NP photocatalyst was found to be 7.23 nm. The cationic dyes methylene blue (MB) and crystal violet (CV) as well as the anionic dyes naphthol blue black (NBB) and Coomassie brilliant blue R 250 (CBB) were employed as model dyes to assess the dye removal efficiencies of the biosynthesized nanophotocatalysts under sunlight. In all cases, the mixed ZnO-SnO2(25%) NP photocatalyst showed much better photocatalytic activity than individual photocatalysts. The degradation percent of dyes using ZnO-SnO2(25%) NPs ranged between 92.2% and 98%. The efficient photocatalytic activity of ZnO-SnO2(25%) NPs is attributed to the effective charge separation and reduced electron/hole recombination rate. The kinetic study results conformed to a pseudo first-order reaction rationalized in terms of the Langmuir-Hinshelwood model. Furthermore, the results showed that the ZnO-SnO2(25%) NP photocatalyst is highly stable and could be recycled several times without a noticeable reduction in its catalytic activity towards dye removal.