Synthesis of carbon-doped SnO2 nanostructures for visible-light-driven photocatalytic hydrogen production from water splitting

Abstract Environmental issues: global warming, organic pollution, CO2 emission, energy shortage, and fossil fuel depletion have become severe threats to the future development of humans. In this context, hydrogen production from water using solar light by photocatalytic/photoelectrochemical technologies, which results in zero CO2 emission, has received considerable attention due to the abundance of solar radiation and water. Herein, a single-step thermal decomposition procedure to produce carbon-doped SnO2 nanostructures (C–SnO2) for photocatalytic applications is proposed. The visible-light-driven photocatalytic performance of the as-prepared materials is evaluated by photocatalytic hydrogen generation experiments. The bandgaps of the photocatalysts are determined by ultraviolet–visible diffused reflectance spectroscopy. The crystallinity, morphological features (size and shape), and chemical composition and elemental oxidation states of the samples are investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The proposed simple thermal decomposition method has significant potential for producing nanostructures for metal-free photocatalysis.