Hierarchical porous Batio3 nano-hexagons as a visible light photocatalyst

Abstract

Hierarchical porous BaTiO<inf>3</inf> nano-hexagons was synthesized via a simple hydrothermal route by using TiO<inf>2</inf> and Ba(OH)<inf>2</inf>.8H<inf>2</inf>O as starting materials under alkaline environment and its photocatalytic activity was evaluated under visible light by taking methylene blue (MB) as a model pollutant. The prepared BaTiO<inf>3</inf> was characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersive X-rays analysis (EDX), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis and diffused reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) techniques. It is noteworthy that the BaTiO<inf>3</inf> nanohexagons exhibited significant photocatalytic activity towards the degradation of MB under visible light irradiation. This significant photocatalytic activity of BaTiO<inf>3</inf> under visible light is mainly attributed to the special morphology and formation of Ti3+ defects. © 2018 Authors.