Fabrication of SnWO4/ZnFe-layered double hydroxide composites with enhanced photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange

In this work, SnWO4/ZnFe-layered double hydroxide (LDH) composites were prepared by a simple hydrothermal method. The as-prepared products were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, EDX, FT-IR, XPS, UV–Vis DRS, and N2 adsorption–desorption techniques, which confirmed the successful synthesis and the excellent optical properties of the composites. In addition, the photocatalytic properties of the SnWO4/ZnFe-LDH composites are tightly related to the mass ratio of SnWO4 and LDH. When loaded with 5% ZnFe-LDH, the photocatalytic degradation efficiency of SnWO4/ZnFe-LDH composites for methyl orange (MO) reached 95.14% within 40 min under visible light irradiation. The enhanced photocatalytic activity of SnWO4/ZnFe-LDH composites could be attributed to the concerted photocatalysts effect between two components. Based on various characterization and experimental results, a possible photocatalytic mechanism was proposed. Furthermore, the resultant catalysts possess remarkable reusability and stability in five successive cycles. The SnWO4/ZnFe-LDH composites are expected as a promising catalyst for practical water purification and provide new ideas in the field of photocatalysis.