Hydrothermal microwave synthesis of SnO microspheres with excellent photocatalytic activity

SnO samples were prepared from SnCl2 and NH4HCO3 by microwave–hydrothermal method. The effects of temperature on the composition, microstructure, and photocatalytic properties of SnO were studied. Results showed that samples synthesized at 50–90 °C for 10 min were composed of SnO and tiny SnO2 particles. All SnO samples displayed good photocatalytic activities. The sample synthesized at 60 °C was composed of numerous porous microspheres, which were 5–10 µm in size and assembled by SnO nanosheets. In general, the SnO samples possessed excellent visible photocatalytic properties and can degrade 87.5% of methyl orange within 80 min.