Synthesis and characterization of bi-component ZnSnO 3 /Zn 2 SnO 4 (perovskite/spinel) nano-composites for photocatalytic degradation of Intracron Blue: Structural, opto-electronic and morphology study

In Situ Decoration of ZnSnO3 Nanosheets on the Surface of Hollow Zn2SnO4 Octahedrons for Enhanced Solar Energy Application

Hierarchical ZnSnO₃/Zn₂SnO₄ porous hollow octahedrons were constructed using the method of combining the acid etching process with the in situ decoration technique for photovoltaic and photocatalytic applications. The composite was used as photoanode of the dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), an overall 4.31% photovoltaic conversion efficiency was obtained, nearly a 73.1% improvement over the DSSCs that used Zn₂SnO₄ solid octahedrons. The composite was also determined to be a high-performance photocatalyst for the removal of heavy metal ion Cr (VI) and antibiotic ciprofloxacin (CIP) in single and co-existing systems under simulated sunlight irradiation. It was remarkable that the composite displayed good reusability and stability in a co-existing system, and the simultaneous removal performance could be restored by a simple acid treatment. These improvements of solar energy utilization were ascribed to the synergetic effect of the hierarchical porous hollow morphology, the introduction of ZnSnO₃ nanosheets, and the heterojunction formed between ZnSnO₃ and Zn₂SnO₄, which could improve light harvesting capacity, expedite electron transport and charge-separation efficiencies.

Fabrication of a Selective Sensor Amplification Probe Modified with Multi-Component Zn2SnO4/SnO2 Heterostructured Microparticles as a Robust Electrocatalyst for Electrochemical Detection of Antibacterial Drug Secnidazole

In this study, we synthesized heterostructured zinc stannate/tin oxide microparticles (ZTO/TO MPs) by a simple coprecipitation method and used them as an effective electrode material for the electrochemical detection of the antibacterial drug secnidazole (SCZ). The as-prepared ZTO/TO MPs were characterized by XRD, Raman, FE-SEM, HR-TEM, EDX, and XPS analyses. The physiochemical studies clearly proved that the fabricated ZTO/TO MPs were formed in a heterostructure phase without other impurities. A glassy carbon electrode modified with the synthesized ZTO/TO MPs showed an excellent and improved electrocatalytic activity in the electrochemical reduction of SCZ. Using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), an impressive linear calibration range, extending from 0.01 to 193 μM, was observed, coupled with a detection limit of 0.0054 μM and a sensitivity of 0.055 μA/μM. In addition, the ZTO/TO MPs/GCE showed very good selectivity for the detection of SCZ in the presence of a number of biological, inorganic, and structurally related compounds. Finally, the ZTO/TO MPs/GCE was investigated for the analysis of SCZ in human blood serum samples. A very good recovery was obtained when spiking the blood serum with SCZ, highlighting the good applicability of the ZTO/TO MPs/GCE for the electrochemical analysis of SCZ in complex biological samples.

Structural, optical, photocatalytic, and optoelectronic properties of Zn2SnO4 nanocrystals prepared by hydrothermal method

Zn₂SnO₄ (ZTO) nanocrystals are extensively studied in various fields. However, size-dependent ZTO nanocrystals are still challenging to understand their structural, optical, photocatalytic, and optoelectronic properties. ZTO nanocrystals are synthesized by a facile hydrothermal reaction method. The structural properties of the synthesized ZTO nanocrystals are studied by x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscope. The sizes of the ZTO nanocrystals are controlled by the pH values of the precursor and the molar ratios of the Zn:Sn in the starting materials. ZTO nanocrystals with the small size of 6 nm and large size of 270 nm are obtained by our method. The Eu³⁺ ions are doped into ZTO nanocrystals to probe size-dependent Eu doping sites, which shows significant potential applications in light emitting diode phosphors. Moreover, the photocatalytic activity of ZTO nanocrystals on rhodamine (RhB) decoloration are investigated, and the results show that 6 nm ZTO nanocrystals show better performance in the photocatalytic decoloration of RhB compared to 270 nm nanocrystals. Most importantly, we design and fabricate optoelectronic devices to detect IR light based on our nanocrystals and a self-prepared NIR cyanine dye. The device based on small sized ZTO nanocrystals exhibits better device performance under 808 nm IR light compared to that of the large sized ZTO nanocrystals. We believe this work represents ZTO size-dependent properties in term of structural, optical, photocatalytic, and optoelectronic properties as a multifunctional material.