SnO2 is amphoteric, insoluble in water and only dissolves in strong acid or base. One can solve it with HCl, NaOH or H2SO4, etc. But what happens to its photocatalytic properties, then? The end products of such reactions will be totally different than the crystal nanoparticles. If there is no crystal structure, we can no longer expect to see creation of e-h pairs under UV illumination. So, its photo enhanced oxidizing power will diminish, right?
When SnO2 dissolves in acid or bases it is no longer SnO2....
Exactly. As Aswin Gopakumar kindly explained to me:
"Any nanoparticle is chemically similar to their bulk counterpart, and therefore react to any acid or base, but in a more vigorous/faster manner owing to high-surface to voume ratio. For instance, a metal oxide will react with a base (say, NaOH) to form water and metal hydroxide (Sn(OH)2). Likewise, it will react will react with an acid(say, HCl) to form metal salt and water (SnCl2).
The chemical nature will completely change, therefore, and won't exhibit the same property. It is quite prudent to doubt that it will even retain the same band structure or excitonic band gap.
However, you can try with organic solvents or nucleophiles, that could co-ordinate or form a dative bond with the central Sn atom, thereby modifying the band structure. Maybe the best suggestion would be do a trial and error with the end product for your photocatalytic studies."
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Aswin_Gopakumar
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