Z-Scheme Heterojunction of Cd2SnO4/CuBi2O4 as Efficient Visible-Light Driven Photocatalyst for MB dye degradation

Abstract

Abstract Effective dye degradation for water purification relies on efficient visible light sensitive semiconductors. In connection with this a novel visible light driven photocatalysts of (1-x) Cd2SnO4‒xCuBi2O4 (where x = 0.10, 0.20 and 0.30 wt.%) heterojunctions were synthesized using one-pot hydrothermal method. The crystal structure, morphology, chemical composition, optical and photo-catalytic properties of the as-prepared samples were characterized by the techniques of XRD, XPS, FESEM, EDX, HRTEM, XPS, FTIR, UV–vis DRS, BET, PL and EIS respectively. Photodegradation studies were carried out on Methylene blue dye (MB) by these heterojunctions under visible light for 5 h and observed that among the prepared heterojunctions, 0.80Cd2SnO4/0.20CuBi2O4 heterojunction photocatalyst exhibited optimum degradation for 5 hrs than pure Cd2SnO4 and CuBi2O4. The heterojunction maintained its ability to degrade organic pollutants efficiently, even after 4 cycles of photocatalysis. It was revealed that •and h+ radicals played dominant role than • radicals for dye degradation.