Green Synthesis of SnO2 Nanoparticles for Catalytic Degradation of Rhodamine B

A novel method was utilized for the synthesis of Tin (IV) oxide nanoparticles using the leaf extract of Carica papaya, Murraya Koenigii, Moringa Oleifera, and Acalypha Indica. The leaf extract acts as an excellent stabilizing, reducing and capping agent for nanoparticles. From XRD analysis, we found that the average crystallite size of SnO2 nanoparticles was equal to 5 nm (SnO2–CP), 19 nm (SnO2–MK), 38 nm (SnO2–MO), 11 nm (SnO2–AI). The band gap of the prepared SnO2 nanoparticles was in the range 2.8–3.1 eV. Further, the green synthesized SnO2 nanoparticles were tested for degradation of organic pollutant dye namely Rhodamine B in the presence of solar light. The effect of several parameters such as dye concentration, catalyst loading and pH level was studied. The results of optimization showed a maximum removal of color efficiency 86% at pH 8 for 1 × 10–5 M dye concentration and 100 mg catalysts. The pseudo-first-order kinetics was employed for all the catalysts.