Enhanced photocatalytic performance of SrTiO3 powder induced by Eu dopants

Abstract 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 are 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.