A new photocatalyst of LuFeO3 for the dye degradation

作者：Zhou, M.^*; Yang, H.; Xian, T.; Zhang, C. R.

来源：Physica Scripta, 2015, 90(8): 085808.

DOI：10.1088/0031-8949/90/8/085808

• LuFeO3 particles
• polyacrylamide gel route
• photocatalytic activity
• (OH)-O-center dot radicals

A polyacrylamide gel route was introduced to synthesize LuFeO3 particles, where the effects of calcination temperature, calcination time and chelating agent on the products were investigated. By varying the experimental conditions, several LuFeO3 samples with sphere-, ellipsoid- and worm-like morphologies and average particle sizes of 200-270 nm were prepared. The photocatalytic activity of LuFeO3 samples was evaluated by degrading rhodamine B (RhB) under simulated-sunlight irradiation, revealing that they exhibit a pronounced photocatalytic activity. The effects of p-benzoquinone (BQ), ethanol and oxalic acid (OA) on the photocatalytic efficiency were investigated. It is observed that BQ has almost no effect on the photocatalytic degradation of RhB, ethanol exhibits a substantial suppression of RhB degradation, while OA significantly enhances the photocatalytic efficiency. Hydroxyl ((OH)-O-center dot) radicals were examined by fluorimetry using terephthalic acid as a probe molecule, and are found to be produced over the simulated-sunlight irradiated LuFeO3 particles. The addition of ethanol leads to a quenching of (OH)-O-center dot radicals, whereas the yield of (OH)-O-center dot radicals is highly increased on addition of OA. Based on the experimental results, (OH)-O-center dot radicals are suggested to be the dominant active species responsible for the dye degradation, while superoxide (O-center dot(2)-) radicals play a negligible role in the photocatalysis.

• 出版日期2015-8
• 单位兰州理工大学