Synthesis of Fluorinated SnO2 Hollow Nanospheres and Their Improved Photocatalytic Performance

Fluorinated SnO2 hollow nanospheres (HS) were synthesized via a solvothermal treatment of stannous fluoride in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. These nanospheres with diameters from 60 nm to 100 nm were composed of small nanoparticles with rutile phase. A small amount of fluorine ions were observed to be adsorbed on the surface of SnO2 physically. The introduction of polyethylene glycol 200 (PEG 200) in the reaction system could obviously improve the crystallinity and specific surface areas of the product while maintaining the hollow nanosphere structure. Furthermore, the as-prepared SnO2 sample (HS-PEG) showed a much enhanced photocatalytic activity with 100% degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) within only 40 min under UV light irradiation.