Two Novel Visible‐Light‐Active Borate Composites Photocatalysts: 2 %Pt/Gd_0.85Ce_0.15B₅O₉ and 2.5 %CuO/Gd_0.90Ce_0.10B₅O₉

Abstract

One of the important research components of photocatalytic research is the development of new photocatalysts, and recent studies have shown the rise of borate‐type photocatalysts. This paper focuses on the photoreduction of potassium dichromate and the photodegradation of rhodamine B by two borate composites under simulated sunlight. A coral‐like borate was obtained by sol‐gel preparation and then assembled by photodeposition with Pt nanoparticles dots or CuO particles to obtain the new composites with excellent performance. The kinetic constants of photocatalytic properties of 2 %Pt/Gd0.85Ce0.15B5O9 and 2.5 %CuO/Gd0.90Ce0.10B5O9 samples in the reduction and degradation reactions are 0.0050 min−1 and 0.0150 min−1, which are 25 and 4.2 times of the intrinsic GdB5O9 sample respectively. The results of the study indicate the research promise of developing new visible photocatalysts based on borates, especially for photocatalytic applications for pollutant removal.