Photocatalytic Applications of SnO2 and Ag2O-Decorated SnO2 Coatings on Cement Paste

Recently, the production of new photocatalytic materials has attracted considerable attention as a promising strategy to mitigate anthropogenic environmental degradation. In this study, cement paste composites (water/cement ratio = 0.5) were prepared using a coating based on nanoparticles of SnO2 (SnO2/cement paste) and SnO2 decorated with Ag2O (Ag2O-decorated SnO2/cement paste) for photocatalytic applications. These coatings were prepared in this study by using the hydrothermal method as the strategy. Thus, photocatalyst efficiency was evaluated through the degradation of methylene blue (MB) and methyl red (MR) as cationic and anionic dyes, respectively, and the simultaneous degradation of MB/MR (1:1 v/v) dyes. Moreover, the photocatalytic mechanism was investigated in the presence of scavengers. Notably, an increase in pH in the range of 2–6 resulted in selective degradation of the MB/MR dye mixtures. Overall, the photocatalytic performance of these materials provides a novel platform technology focused on advanced civil engineering applications, which consequently facilitates the mitigation of various environmental problems.