Sol-gel synthesis of SmInTaO and its photocatalytic activity on degradation of crystal violet dye and reduction of Cr(VI) ions.

This paper reports the synthesis of SmInTaO and its photocatalytic activity on the degradation of crystal violet dye and reduction of Cr(VI) ions in aqueous solution. SmInTaO was prepared by sol-gel method at 1,200 °C. For comparison purposes, SmInTaO was prepared also by solid-state reaction at 1,400 °C. The evolution of the crystalline phases of the sol-gel sample with the annealing temperature was followed by X-ray diffraction. The cubic crystalline structure of SmInTaO was determined by Rietveld refinement method. Specific surface area was 5 mg for sol-gel sample and 1 mg for solid-state sample, whereas energy band gap was around 3.5 eV. SmInTaO prepared by sol-gel method showed better photocatalytic activity than SmInTaO prepared by solid-state reaction for the mineralization of crystal violet dye and reduction of Cr(VI) solution under UV-light irradiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]