Study on the Degradation of Methylene Blue by Cu-Doped SnSe

Treatment of organic wastewater is still a difficult problem to solve. In this paper, Cu-doped SnSe powder was synthesized by a convenient and efficient hydrothermal method. Meanwhile, the degradation effect of different doping concentrations of SnSe on methylene blue was investigated. It was found that at low doping concentrations, the degradation effect on methylene blue was not obvious because Cu was dissolved in the lattice of the SnSe matrix at low concentrations. As the doping concentration increased, SnSe changed from a layered structure to a nanocluster structure with reduced particle size, and a mixed phase of SnSe and Cu₂SnSe₄ appeared. In fact, the degradation effect on methylene blue was significantly enhanced, and we found that the catalytic degradation effect on methylene blue was best at a doping concentration of 10 wt.%.