Photodegradation of rhodamine 6G in aqueous solution via SrCrO4 and TiO2 nano-sphere mixed oxides

AbstractNano-sphere TiO2 and SrCrO4 (up to 5 mol%) mixed oxides were synthesized by co-precipita- tion method and investigated as catalyst in the photodegradation of rhodamine 6G (Rh6G) in aqueous solution. SrCrO4/TiO2 oxides were characterized by techniques of powdered X-ray diffraction, EDAX, BET, TEM, SEM and ESR analysis. The photocatalytic activities of degradation of dyes were measured by UV-VIS absorption spectroscopy. The results showed that the mixed oxides of TiO2 with 1 mole % of SrCrO4 (SCT1) exhibit a photocatalytic acti- vity 3 times higher than that of P25TiO2 for oxidation of various dyes (Rh6G, TB, MO and BG) under UV light irradiation (l>280nm). Among all these dyes the photodegradation of Rh6G was faster compared to other dyes. The average crystallite sizes, spherical particle sizes and grain sizes of SCT1 were found to be ~15nm, 90±5nm and 100±5nm, respectively. The EPR spectrum of SCT1 indicated that the ejection of electron helped to degrade the dye molecule faster