Effect of crystal growth on mesoporous Pb3Nb4O13 formation, and their photocatalytic activity under visible-light irradiation

Visible-light-active mesoporous Pb3Nb4O13 photocatalysts with large specific surface area were synthesized by using the evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) approach. We studied the crystal growth properties that influence the formation of mesoporous structures. For some materials with high nucleation density a mesoporous structure with large specific surface area is attainable by using a sol-gel method with a traditional surfactant approach. The photocatalytic activities of the obtained samples were investigated by photo-oxidizing 2-propanol gas. Compared with a Pb3Nb4O13 sample prepared by solid-state reaction, mesoporous Pb3Nb4O13 samples showed greatly improved photocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation (lambda > 420 nm).