Novel Horizon: Smart TiO2/Sn(IV)SbP Nanocomposite with Enhanced Electrochemical and Photocatalytic Properties

In the present research work, sol-gel derived smart nanocomposite of tin antimonophosphate mixed with different concentration of TiO2 (0–40%) has been synthesized and further characterized through XRD, SEM, EDS, and HRTEM. The aim of this study is to relate the electrical conductivity dependence behavior with the different doping concentration of TiO2 (0–40%) in the composite. For this, ion exchange capacity (IEC) has been selected as a preliminary criterion for the measurement of other electrochemical properties like; membrane potential, transport number and permselectivity. The composite with 20% TiO2 in tin antimonophosphate possesses a maximum value, i.e. 0.97 meq/g for IEC, and has been further studied as a case for the material characterisation. Membrane potential, transport number, permselectivity values for the nanocomposite membrane have been found to be better than pristine membrane, for both monovalent and bivalent ions. The composite with 20% TiO2 in tin antimonophosphate further used a photocatalyst for the degradation MB dye. It shows 97% removal efficiency with apparent rate constant of 0.01314 min–1. The photocatalytic degradation of MB follows pseudo-first order kinetics.