Influence of lanthanum doping via hydrothermal and reflux methods on the SnO2–TiO2 nanoparticles prepared by sol–gel method and their catalytic properties

In the present work, tin oxide–titanium oxide (SnO 2 TiO 2 ) nanoparticles were synthesized via sol–gel method and doping of lanthanum (La) on tin oxide–titanium oxide (La/SnO 2 TiO 2 ) nanoparticles was carried out using hydrothermal and reflux methods. Effect of different preparation methods on the size and catalytic properties of nanoparticles was investigated. The La/SnO 2 TiO 2 nanoparticles were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, powder X-ray diffraction and solid phase spectroscopy. The UV–Vis spectroscopy was used to investigate its catalytic properties for methylene blue degradation. It was found that La/SnO 2 –TiO 2 nanoparticles prepared by hydrothermal method have small size and maximum degradation capacity. The red shift in La nanoparticles was observed with band gap of 4.25 eV as compared to bulk material.