Fabrication of TiO₂@SnS₂ core–shell nanocomposites <i>via</i> a thermal decomposition approach for sunlight-driven photodegradation of crystal violet

In the current study, TiO₂@SnS₂ core-shell nanocomposites were prepared <i>via</i> a facile thermal decomposition method. The synthesis consists of thermal decomposition of tin chloride pentahydrate and thiourea in the presence of NaOH-modified TiO₂ microspheres in diphenyl ether (DPE) at ∼200 °C in air. The synthesized TiO₂@SnS₂ core-shell nanocomposites were characterized by XRD, FT-IR, TGA, FESEM, TEM, EDXA, UV-DRS, PL and XPS. The XRD results indicate the presence of both TiO₂ and SnS₂ phases in the core-shell nanocomposites. FESEM, TEM and EDX analyses results confirm uniform coating of SnS₂ nanoparticles on the surface modified TiO₂ microspheres. XPS analysis results confirm the presence of Sn⁴⁺, Ti⁴⁺, O^2- and S^2- in the TiO₂@SnS₂ nanocomposites. After their characterization, the TiO₂@SnS₂ core-shell nanocomposites were explored for their catalytic activity towards the photodegradation of a toxic dye (crystal violet (CV)) in an aqueous solution under sunlight. The photodegradation efficiency of TiO₂@SnS₂ core-shell nanocomposites is better than that of TiO₂ microspheres, SnS₂ nanoparticles and other metal sulfide nanoparticles/nanocomposites reported in the literature.