Practical liquid phase mixing-calcination synthesis of Nb5+ doped SrTiO3 nanoparticles with elevated photocatalysis.

• Facile liquid phase mixing-calcination synthesis of Nb5+ doped SrTiO 3 nanoparticles. • Nb-SrTiO 3 has improved separation and transfer of photogenerated electrons and holes. • Nb-SrTiO 3 has a photocatalytic Cr(VI) reduction activity 4.2 times that of SrTiO 3. • Reasons for the improved photocatalytic activity of Nb-SrTiO 3 are proposed. The mediocre photocatalytic activity and unpractical preparation methods of SrTiO 3 have restricted its practical application as a photocatalyst. Herein, a practical liquid phase mixing-calcination method was designed to synthesize Nb5+ doped SrTiO 3 (Nb-SrTiO 3) with remarkably elevated photocatalytic activity. Nb-SrTiO 3 nanoparticles were synthesized by mixing Sr(NO 3) 2 , NbCl 5 and tetrabutyl titanate in deionized water (DW), evaporating the solvent (DW) and calcining the evenly mixed precursors at 700 °C for 4 h. The as-synthesized Nb-SrTiO 3 exhibited a photocatalytic activity 4.2 times that of SrTiO 3 in the reduction of Cr(VI) under Xenon lamp irradiation. Moreover, Nb-SrTiO 3 showed a rather good photocatalytic stability. Nb5+ doping can decrease the particle size and promote the photogenerated carrier separation and transfer of SrTiO 3 , thereby contributing to heightened photocatalytic activity of Nb-SrTiO 3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]