Effects of pH and temperature on photocatalytic activity of PbTiO3 synthesized by hydrothermal method

PbTiO3 photocatalyst was synthesized successfully by facile hydrothermal method. The effects of the hydrothermal reaction temperatures and the pH values of the systems on the photocatalytic activities of PbTiO3 were investigated in detail. The photocatalytic activities of samples were evaluated by the degradation of methyl orange (MO) aqueous solution under simulated solar irradiation. The as-obtained PbTiO3 sample exhibits anisotropical growth along the (0 0 1) plane, and its photocatalytic activity is about 3 times higher than that of PbTiO3 prepared by precipitation method. Moreover, the as-prepared PbTiO3 has high stability during photocatalytic oxidation process, and does not cause secondary pollution. (C) 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.