The paper presents a comparative approach concerning the properties of SnO2 thin layers obtained via spray pyrolysis deposition (SPD) and electro-chemical deposition (ECD) The influences of crystalline structure (X-ray diffraction) morphology (atomic force microscopy contact angle) on the electric (electrical conductivity) properties of the layers were studied The SPD samples present a porous morphology with high surface energy compared with ECD samples characterized by a dense morphology The photocatalytic efficiency of the samples was tested in the photodegradation of methylene blue and the higher values (57%) correspond to SPD samples (C) 2010 Elsevier B V All rights reserved