Influence of Synthesis Procedures on the Preparation of Strontium Titanate Nanoparticles and Photocatalytic application for Methylene blue degradation

Abstract

Abstract SrTiO3 is a well-known photocatalyst with various applications, such as antibacterial agents, self-cleaning surfaces, and water and air conditioning. In the present study, pure SrTiO3 (ST) photocatalysts were prepared by the high-energy ball milling and Pechini method and then characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermal gravimetric analysis, FTIR, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, respectively. Structural parameters were evaluated by Rietveld refinement analysis from XRD data, which confirmed the cubic system of SrTiO3. The obtained nanoparticles were used for photocatalytic methylene blue (MB) degradation and the influence of synthesis methods on catalytic activity was investigated. The degradation rate constant of MB on the ST1 (Pechini-synthesized sample) and ST2 (high energy ball milled sample) is 0.0151 and 0.0092 min-1, respectively. The better photocatalytic activity of the ST1 demonstrated 93% degradation of dye under the solar light simulator. The photocatalytic reaction data provided well a first-order kinetic model.