Preparation and photocatalytic properties of strontium titanate powders via sol–gel process

Abstract On the basis of our previous work, we developed a new type of catalyst (e.g. photocatalysts) to degradate nitrogen oxides (NO x ). Recently, a series of photocatalysts such as strontium titanate (SrTiO 3 ) were prepared by sol–gel method, their photocatalytic activities of NO degradation were also studied. The obtained samples were characterized by differential thermal analysis and thermal gravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. The as-prepared photocatalysts have a perfect perovskite structure, and pure samples can be obtained when the corresponding sol–gel precursors were calcined at 600 °C in muffle. With the temperature increasing, the grain size of SrTiO 3 samples grew large steadily and the crystallinity became better. The optimal synthesis of SrTiO 3 was determined to be 700 °C calcination. Our current experiments indicated that some parameters such as lamp-house, calcinations temperature had a strong effect on the designed photoreaction, the concentration of nitric oxide at 716 mg/m 3 , the degradation rate of nitric oxide can increase above 92%.