Photocatalytic Activity of Ag-BaZrO3 Nanoceramics

Ceramic materials with perovskite type structure are value-added materials used for several functional applications such as transducers and wireless communications [1].Perovskite oxides have been deemed as promising materials for photocatalysis due to their tunable electronic structures. Different from the mechanism of BaZrO3 doping, previous investigations showed that Ag additions can improve the photocatalyst activity [2]. The Ag-BZO nanoceramic was prepared by sol-gel method . In a typical procedure, 0.40 g of barium chloride was dissolved in deionized water. In another beaker, zirconium oxychloride was added to silver chloride in deionized water. Then, a solution of NaOH added to them. Finally, precipitation was calcinated at 700 °C. Ceramic was characterized by EDX, SEM and XRD. XRD analysis and SEM reveal pure perovskite phase structure. Parameters such as concentration of substrate, amount of photocatalyst, pH of the solution, and time of irradiation of light for photocatalysis degradation of Eosin Y were investigated. Ceramic show the maximum adsorption at neutral pH hence the photodegradation also found maximum at neutral pH.