Abstract
Keywords Surfactant treated SnO.sub.2; Hydrothermal technique; SnO.sub.2 hierarchical nanorods photocatalytic activity; Methylene blue dye; Electron microscopy Highlights * Surfactant - treated tin oxide hierarchical nanorods were successfully synthesized. * SnO.sub.2 nanorods was evaluated using MB dye removal under direct natural sunlight. * Absorption edge of CTAB treated SnO.sub.2 shifts to lower wavelength over the SnO.sub.2 NPs. * Band at 620 cm.sup.-1 can be attributed to the O--Sn--O anti-symmetric stretching mode. * At 620 cm.sup.-1, & 520 cm.sup.-1 is because of terminal oxygen vibration in surface treated. Surfactant -treated tin oxide (SnO.sub.2) hierarchical nanorods were successfully synthesized through hydrothermal technique. The X-ray diffraction analysis showed the prepared SnO.sub.2 possesses tetragonal rutile structure having appreciable crystallinity with crystallite sizes in the range of 110 nm--120 nm. UV--visible diffuse reflectance absorption spectra confirm that the better visible light absorption band of SnO.sub.2 hierarchical nanorods have red shift compared to the pure SnO.sub.2. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) study evident that the as-prepared SnO.sub.2 nanorods encompass the characteristic bands of SnO.sub.2 nanostructures. The morphological analyses of prepared materials were performed by FESEM, which shows that hierarchal nanorods and complex nanostructures. EDX analyses disclose all the samples are composed of Sn and O elements. The photocatalytic performance of the prepared surfactant treated SnO.sub.2 hierarchical nanorods was evaluated using methylene blue (MB) dye removal under direct natural sunlight. Recycling experiment results of CTAB - SnO.sub.2 nanorods and photocatalytic reaction mechanism also discussed in detail. Author Affiliation: (a) Department of Physics, Government Arts College (Autonomous), Salem, 636007, Tamil Nadu, India (b) Department of Physics, Government Arts College for Women , Salem, 636008, Tamil Nadu, India (c) Department of Physics, Government Arts College for Men, Krishnagiri, 635001, Tamil Nadu, India (d) Department of Physics, Periyar University, Salem, 636011, Tamil Nadu, India (e) Department of Material Science, Central University of Tamil Nadu, Thiruvarur, 610001, Tamil Nadu, India (f) Centre for Nanosciences & Department of Physics, University of Okara, Okara, Pakistan (g) NPU-NCP Joint International Research Center on Advanced Nanomaterials and Defects Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, 710072, China (h) Department of Chemistry, College of Natural Sciences, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, Gyeongbuk, 38541, Republic of Korea (i) Department of Zoology, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia (j) UNESCO-UNISA Africa Chair in Nanosciences/Nanotechnology Laboratories, College of Graduate Studies, University of South Africa (UNISA), Muckleneuk Ridge, PO Box 392, Pretoria, South Africa (k) Nanosciences African Network (NANOAFNET), Materials Research Group (MRG), iThemba LABS-National Research Foundation (NRF), 1 Old Faure Road, 7129, PO Box 722, Somerset West, Western Cape Province, South Africa * Corresponding author. Department of Physics, Government Arts College (Autonomous), Salem, 636007, Tamil Nadu, India. Article History: Received 30 September 2021; Revised 24 December 2021; Accepted 19 January 2022 Byline: V. Perumal (a), C. Inmozhi (b), R. Uthrakumar [uthraloyola@yahoo.com] (a,*), R. Robert (c), M. Chandrasekar (d), S. Beer Mohamed (e), Shehla Honey (f,g,j), A. Raja (h), Fahd A. Al-Mekhlafi (i), K. Kaviyarasu [kavi@tlabs.ac.za] (j,k,**)