Highly crystalline zinc stannate nanocatalyst for rhodamine 6G degradation: synthesis and characterization.

The cubic shaped zinc stannate nanocatalyst (ZS-NC) with the average crystallite size of 32.58 nm was prepared by sol-gel method using ZnO and SnO2 as a precursors. The crystal structural composition was investigated through Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX). The microstructure analysis was done over scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the optical property was studied by operating diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). The rhodamine 6G was degraded in aqueous under the influence of solar light in the presence of ZS-NC and photocatalytic parameters were derived by using a set of equations. It has been observed almost the dye (99.38%) was mineralized in 330 min with degradation rate of 1.281 X 10-2/min. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]