Controlled preparation of hollow SnO2@M (M = Au, Ag) heterostructures through template-assist method for enhanced photocatalysis

According to relative energy band positions between noble metals of Au, Ag, and wide bandgap semiconductor SnO 2 , Au, and Ag nanoparticles (NPs) modified hollow SnO 2 NPs were designed. Firstly, the hollow SnO 2 NPs have been synthesized by employing the silica template-assisted hydrothermal methods, then Au and Ag were coated on the surface of SnO 2 to form the core–shell structures, respectively. The morphology, composition, and optical properties of as-prepared samples have been investigated by various analytic methods. Subsequently, the photocatalytic reaction to Rhodamine B (RhB) dye under simulated-sunlight irradiation was employed to investigate their photocatalytic performance, the results demonstrate the metal–semiconductor with direct Schottky contact exhibited remarkable photocatalytic activity . The finite difference time domain (FDTD) calculation results illustrate the introduced and decorated Au and Ag NPs could enhance the harvesting abilities for visible light. We envision the aforementioned synthesized strategy and catalytic results are used to the designing and application of other metal–semiconductor system.