Enhanced photocatalytic performance of SrTiO3 powder induced by europium dopants

In this work, Eu3+ doped SrTiO3 powders were synthesized by sol-gel method and the influences of Eu3+ dopants on the crystalline structure, microstructure morphology, electronic band-gap and photocatalytic performance for degradation of organic pollutant were investigated in detail. Research results reveal that the incorporated Eu3+ ions in SrTiO3 lattice are preferable to substitute the Sr2+-Ti4+ ions pair by two Eu3+ ions. The presence of Eu3+ ions plays a significant role for the microstructure morphology of the SrTiO3 powders, leading to the formation of smaller size nanoparticles with a higher specific surface area. The light absorption capability of the resulting materials is improved owing to the narrowing of the band-gap induced by Eu3+ dopants. As a result, the enhanced photocatalytic activity application for photodegradation of Rhodamine B solution is demonstrated for the SrTiO3 powders doped with Eu3+ ions. (C) 2020 Chinese Society of Rare Earths. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

In this study, Eu3+ doped SrTiO3 powders were synthesized using the sol-gel method, and the effects of Eu3+ dopants on the crystalline structure, microstructure morphology, electronic band-gap, and photocatalytic performance were investigated. It was found that Eu3+ ions preferentially replace Sr2+-Ti4+ ions in the lattice, leading to the formation of smaller size nanoparticles with a higher specific surface area. The presence of Eu3+ dopants also improved the light absorption capability by narrowing the band-gap, resulting in enhanced photocatalytic activity for the degradation of organic pollutants.