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• Facile synthesis of MoS 2 nanostructures. • Decease in size of SnO 2 nanoparticles when synthesized over MoS 2. • Excellent narrow optical band gap for SnO 2 -MoS 2 composites. • Composite nanostructures show enhanced photo-catalytic degradation of Methylene Blue and Methyl Red. • With increase in concentration of SnO 2 on MoS 2 there is enhancement in efficiency. We synthesize semiconductor hybrid nanostructures comprising SnO 2 nanoparticles stacked with two dimensional MoS 2 nanostructures by superficial two-step methodology. The A 1g /E1 2g peak intensity ratio from Raman spectra reveals the type of doping and its effect on chemical structure. SnO 2 nanoparticles in SnO 2 -MoS 2 nanostructures (NSs) decrease the recombination rate of electron-hole pairs of the photocatalyst. We find that: (i) For pristine SnO 2 , the degradation efficiencies in 120 min are 33.8% and 19.9% for Methylene Blue (MB) and Methyl Red (MR), respectively. (ii) For pristine MoS 2 , the degradation efficiencies in 120 min are 34.6% and 36.7% for MB and MR, respectively. (iii) For SnO 2 -MoS 2 nanostructures, the degradation efficiencies in 120 min are enhanced to 58.5% and 94% for MB and MR, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]