Synthesis of type-II SrTiO3/ZnO heterojunction material for photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue under sunlight

This work presents the synthesis of ZnO, SrTiO3, and SrTiO3/ZnO catalysts by simple hydrothermal method. The obtained materials were characterized by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier transformation infrared spectra (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy-dispersive X-ray (EDS) and element mapping images, Photo-luminescence spectroscopy (PL), and Ultraviolet–Visible Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (UV-Vis DRS). The photocatalytic activity of the synthesized materials was assessed by degradation of methylene blue (MB) under sunlight. In particular, SrTiO3/ZnO displayed outstanding photocatalytic activity compare to individual catalysts. Our findings have revealed an improvement of photogenerated charge separation and the dominating role of the holes and electrons in the degradation of MB.