In-situ synthesis of SnO/CuSnO₃ nanostructures to catalyze azo dye degradation, CO₂ reduction, and amines direct alkylation reactions under visible light

The extensive use of photocatalysis to address environmental concerns, energy production, and organic transformations has attracted attention in recent decades. The SnO/CSO photocatalytic materials were fabricated through a single-step hydrothermal method and comprehensively characterized using a muti-technique approach to demonstrate the physicochemical, morphological, and electronic features. According to the photocatalytic experiments, the SnO/CSO could remove >96 % of acid blue 92 (AB92) azo dye under optimum conditions, with rate constant 2.37 × 10⁻² min⁻¹. Furthermore, the photocatalyst significantly outperformed commercial TiO₂ (P25), in reducing CO₂ to CO and CH₄ with a production rate of 10.8 and 1.18 μmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹, respectively, under visible light irradiation. The successful direct alkylation of amines to valuable organic compounds within 10 min of the reaction time with a conversion selectivity of >90 % was another capability of the materials, making it a good candidate for pharmaceutical synthesis purposes.