One-step synthesis of spherical NaTaO3 and graphene spherical NaTaO3 nanoparticles with enhanced photocatalytic activity for NO purification

To obtain efficient photocatalytic air purification, a series of NaTaO3 nanoparticles were successfully synthesized through a one-pot solvothermal approach, using water/glycerol mixed solution as solvent. The glycerol not only played an important role for controlling the morphology and particle size, but also remarkably enhanced the specific surface area of the as-prepared NaTaO3. Under optimal conditions, the spherical NaTaO3 (NaTaO3-30) exhibited much higher deNOx performance under UV irradiation as compared to the cubic NaTaO3 (NaTaO3-0). Furthermore, the graphene spherical NaTaO3 composites were also prepared to further enhance the visible light driven photocatalytic ability of spherical NaTaO3. When 1 wt.% graphene was loaded, the spherical NaTaO3/graphene showed excellent performance for continuous NO gas destruction under UV irradiation, short wavelength visible light (> 400 nm) and even long wavelength visible light (> 510 nm), which was superior to spherical NaTaO3 and cubic NaTaO3/graphene. The increased specific surface area, expanded light absorption and accelerated electron transport were responsible for the enhanced photocatalytic activity of the composite. The present work may shed new light on the synthesis of novel perovskite-type NaTaO3-based catalysts with excellent photocatalytic performance.