First Principles and Experimental Study on Photocatalytic Adsorption Property of SnO2@CuO Core-shell Structure

The structural stability, electronic properties and catalytic performance of SnO2 nanoclusters, CuO nanoclusters and SnO2@CuO core-shell structure were investigated by density functional theory. Compared with the single SnO2 and CuO, the electronic states of both the core and the shell layer of the core-shell structure are reduced, which is favorable to the stability of the core-shell structure and the ionic bond formation between the core and the shell layer is favored; as shown by the charge transfer state, the CuO shell layer potential is reduced and the surface activity is increased, while the SnO2 core potential is increased and the surface activity is reduced, the shell layer can better encapsulate the core, and the SnO2@CuO core-shell structure is stable. The experimental results show that the SnO2@CuO core-shell structure not only adsorbs NO more efficiently than single nanoclusters, but also has a 1.7 times higher degradation efficiency for methylene blue (MB).