Preparation of Cl doped SnO powder with excellent photocatalytic property by mechanical alloying

Abstract Cl-doped SnO photocatalysts were synthesized by mechanical alloying (MA) from SnCl2 and NH4HCO3. The effects of MA time on the structural characterization and photocatalytic activity of SnO powders were studied. Cl-doped SnO nanoparticles can be obtained by MA treatment after 1 h, but MA time considerably affected the crystalline size, microstrain, and photocatalytic properties of the samples. The crystalline size and specific surface area of the SnO samples gradually decreased and their microstrain increased with prolonged MA time. The peak intensity of the photoluminescence spectra of the Cl-doped SnO samples remarkably increased with prolonged MA time. Moreover, the MA samples had good photocatalytic properties. The photodegradation rate of methyl orange dye in 30 min over Cl-doped SnO nanoparticles obtained by MA for 2, 4, and 8 h was approximately 99%. Aging treatment of the SnO samples remarkably affected their phase composition, which can enhance the transformation of SnO to SnO2. The SnO2 transformation degree significantly increased with prolonged MA time through aging treatment, which also slightly deteriorated the degradation efficiency of the samples.