Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic Dye by Sol–Gel-Synthesized CaCu 3 Ti 4 O 12 Powder

Ultraviolet light-activated calcium copper titanate (CaCu3Ti4O12—abbreviated as CCTO) powder was successfully synthesized by a sol–gel synthesis route and characterized by different measurement techniques. The cubic crystalline structure of CCTO powder was verified by x-ray diffraction. The average particle size of the CCTO was found to be 109.3 ± 2.3 nm by field emission scanning electron microscopy which is in agreement with transmission electron microscopy analysis. The bandgap energy was assessed by optical reflectance spectroscopy and found to be 3.01 eV. The photocatalytic degradation of the CCTO powder was investigated under ultraviolet (UV) light illumination using rhodamine B (RhB) as a model organic pollutant. The RhB dye was degraded 52% within 40 min of UV irradiation. This proved the high photocatalytic performance of CCTO powder. This study shows that CCTO is a promising photocatalyst for wastewater treatment applications.