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Crystal structure of tetragonal BiOCl, field emission scanning electron micrographs, CIE chromaticity diagram and percentage of RhB dye degradation of Bi1−xEuxOCl.

In the present study synthesis of BaTi1-xCrxO3 nanocatalysts (x = 0.0 ≤ x ≤ 0.05) by conventional oxalate and microwave assisted hydrothermal synthesis methods was carried out to investigate the effect of synthesis methods on the physicochemical and catalytic properties of nanocatalysts. These catalysts were thoroughly characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), N2 physisortion, and total acidity by pyridine adsorption method. Their catalytic performance was evaluated for the reduction of nitrobenzene using hydrazine hydrate as the hydrogen source. Structural parameters refined by Rietveld analysis using XRD powder data indicate that BaTi1-xCrxO3 conventional catalysts were crystallized in the tetragonal BaTiO3 structure with space group P4mm, and microwave catalysts crystallized in pure cubic BaTiO3 structure with space group Pm3̅m. TEM analysis of the catalysts reveal spherical morphology of the particles, and these are uniformly dispersed in microwave catalysts whereas agglomeration of the particles was observed in conventional catalysts. Particle size of the microwave catalysts is found to be 20-35 nm compared to conventional catalysts (30-48 nm). XPS studies reveal that Cr is present in the 3+ and 6+ mixed valence state in all the catalysts. Microwave synthesized catalysts showed a 4-10-fold increase in surface area and pore volume compared to conventional catalysts. Acidity of the BaTiO3 catalysts improved with Cr dopant in the catalysts, and this could be due to an increase in the number of Lewis acid sites with an increase in Cr content of all the catalysts. Catalytic reduction of nitrobenzene to aniline studies reveals that BaTiO3 synthesized by microwave is very active and showed 99.3% nitrobenzene conversion with 98.2% aniline yield. The presence of Cr in the catalysts facilitates a faster reduction reaction in all the catalysts, and its effect is particularly notable in conventional synthesized catalysts.

A series of Bi1−xEuxOX (X = F and Br; x = 0, 0.01, 0.03 and 0.05) phosphors were synthesized at relatively low temperature and short duration (500 °C, 1 h).

In this article, the SrFeO3−δ photocatalyst was synthesized by a solution combustion method and applied for the photocatalytic degradation of aqueous nitrobenzene in the presence and absence of H2O2. The SrFeO3−δ photocatalyst was characterized by XRD, FT-IR, FE-SEM, TEM, TG-DTG, XPS, and UV–visible spectroscopy. The band gap energy of SrFeO3−δ was found to be 3.75 eV which lies in the UV region. The XPS results indicate that the oxidation state of Sr and Fe in SrFeO3−δ was 2+ and 3+, respectively, and the surface atomic ratio of Sr and Fe is 0.995. The photocatalytic activity reveals that the degradation of nitrobenzene over the SrFeO3−δ catalyst itself (UV/SFO) is superior compared to SrFeO3−δ in the presence of H2O2 (UV/SFO/H2O2) with a degradation efficiency of 99–96%. The degradation of nitrobenzene obeys first-order kinetics in both UV/SFO and UV/SFO/H2O2 processes. The decrease in degradation efficiency with UV/SFO/H2O2 was attributed due to the formation of strontium carbonate on the photocatalyst surface.