Facile solvothermal synthesis of Cu2SnS3 architectures and their visible-light-driven photocatalytic properties

In this paper, three dimensional (3D) Cu2SnS3 architectures were successfully synthesized via a simple solvothermal route. The structure, morphology and optical properties of the as-prepared samples were characterized by using an X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra (UV-vis DRS). The SEM and TEM image indicated that the flower Cu2SnS3 architectures consist of large number of uniform nanosheets. The band gap is about 2.42 eV, which have been confirmed by UV-vis DRS. Photocatalytic activities by photo-degradation reaction of methylene blue (MB) were investigated under visible-light irradiation. The results indicate the potential applications of the Cu2SnS3 architectures in visible-light-driven photocatalysts. Published by Elsevier B.V.