Hydrothermal synthesis and photocatalytic activity of butterfly-like CaTiO₃ dendrites with dominant {101} facets

Abstract

Novel butterfly-like CaTiO 3 dendrites dominantly bounded by {101} facets have been synthesized via a conventional hydrothermal by using tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) as a mineralizer and surface modifier. The wing-branches of the butterfly-like CaTiO 3 dendrites are composed of primary block tetragonal plates with dominant {101} facets overlapping and ranking around the stem of 〈131〉 directions in the same plane belonging to the group of {101}. With the basis of the experimental results and the lattice structure, a possible formation mechanism of the butterfly-like CaTiO 3 dendrites has been discussed and proposed. The preferential adsorption of the organic + N CH 3 4 ( ) ions released by the ionization of TMAH on {101} planes suppresses the deposition of the calcium titanate species on {101} planes, which induces the formation of the primary block tetragonal plates and their overlapping as well as ranking around 〈131〉 direction along {101} planes, resulting in the butterfly-like CaTiO 3 dendrites bounded with {101} facets. The investigation on the degradation of rhodamine-B demonstrates, due to the dominant exposition of the {101} facets, the butterfly-like CaTiO 3 dendrites display superior photocatalytic activity of more than four time that of CaTiO 3 microcuboids bounded with smart {101} and (010) facets.

Perovskite Oxide Based Materials for Energy and Environment-Oriented Photocatalysis

“…The butterfly like dendritic structures showed 4 times higher activity in comparison to the microcuboid structure, which was attributed to the exposed facets in the former. 174 CaTiO 3 nanospheres 175 and nanocuboids 176 are also reported for MB and RhB degradation, respectively. These reports convey that the morphology has a great impact on the photocatalytic performance of CaTiO 3 .…”

“…Recently, Chen et al have reported the butterfly and microcuboid CaTiO 3 morphologies and studied their performance toward photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) under UV light irradiation. The butterfly like dendritic structures showed 4 times higher activity in comparison to the microcuboid structure, which was attributed to the exposed facets in the former . CaTiO 3 nanospheres and nanocuboids are also reported for MB and RhB degradation, respectively.…”