Luminescent and photocatalytic properties of hollow SnO2 nanospheres

•We prepared size tunable hollow SnO2 nanospheres by sacrificing template method.•We characterized properties of as-synthesized SnO2 and compared with solid SnO2 nanosphere.•Hollow SnO2 nanosphere exhibits higher photoluminescence intensity than solid SnO2.•Hollow SnO2 nanosphere exhibits stronger photocatalytic activity than solid SnO2.•We discussed the relationship between specific surface area and optical properties.