LAUSR

In recent years, SnO2/carbon nanostructures based composites have got attracted in solar–physical energy conversion as well as energy storage applications. We had conducted a green-SILAR (successive ionic layer absorption and reduction) methodology to produce the SnO2 QDs decorated reduced graphene oxide (rGO) sheets. The obtained materials were studied for their structural, morphological, optical, and sun light photocatalytic applications. The SnO2 QDs grown on the rGO sheets have exhibited the average crystalline size of 3.6 nm and the particles size of 3–7 nm. The UV–Vis absorption spectrum authenticate the existence of strong quantum confinement in the SnO2 QDs grown on the rGO sheets. The photocatalytic reaction conducted under sunlight exposure have showed several times enhanced efficiency for rGO/SnO2 QDs over the commercial Degussa P25 TiO2 nanoparticles. This study also acquaintances to the synergistic effect of co-photosensitization of dye molecules and graphene to SnO2.Graphical Abstract