Formation and Photocatalytic Activity of BaTiO3 Nanoceramics via Sol-gel Process

Barium titanate (BaTiO3) is a versatile elctroceramics that finds widespread application and So many studies have been focused on various chemical methods for the synthesis of BaTiO3 powders, for example sol-gel, co-precipitation, hydrothermal and spray pyrolysis [1]. The sol-gel process has been intensively studied because it facilitates the preparation of powders with high purity, small grain size, and good uniformity. oxide photocatalyst has drawn much attention for degrading organic chemicals from wastewater through the advanced oxidation process (AOP), generally with the assistance of UV irradiation. Among these oxides, perovskite-type materials have unique potential which displays photostability and preeminent photocatalytic activity [2]. BaTiO3 is a typical perovskite photocatalyst with unique physical and chemical properties, which highly depend on its morphology and particle size; thus high purity and nanoscale structure are highly desired [3].We reported a facile sol-gel approach to synthesize BaTiO3 nanoceramic for degradation of Methylene Blue (MB) and Eosin Y (EY). BaTiO3 powder was prepared at low temperatures, starting with two different precursors; Barium hydroxide and titanium tetraisopropoxide. It was found that, phase BaTiO3 was formed after calcination at 400°C for 2h. Ceramic was characterized by Energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), FT-IR, SEM, UV-vis spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD). XRD analysis and SEM reveal pure perovskite phase structure and uniform grain size. The degradation efficiency for photocatalytic reaction was calculated as Efficiency (%) = C0-Ce/C0 * 100Where C0 and Ce correspond to the initial and final concentration of dye before and after photo-irradiation. In this equation E% shows the dye photocatalyst degradation percent. Percentage of destruction with MB and EY were obtained respectively 53% and 48%. Parameters such as concentration of substrate, amount of photocatalyst, pH of the solution, temperature of reaction medium and time of irradiation of light for photocatalysis degradation were investigated. Ceramic show the maximum adsorption at low pH for MB and minimum adsorption at low pH for EY.