Synthesis and Characterization of Pyrochlore Bi2Sn2O7 Doping with Praseodymium by Hydrothermal Method and Its Photocatalytic Activity Study

Abstract

Praseodymium doped Bi2Sn2O7 (BSO), as a visible-light responsive photocatalyst, was prepared by a hydrothermal method with different dopant contents. The as-prepared photocatalysts were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), N2 adsorption-desorption isotherm, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis (XPS), and UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). The photocatalytic activity of prepared catalysts was evaluated by the degradation of Rhodamine Bextra (RhB) and 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) in aqueous solution under visible light irradiation. It was found that Pr doping inhibited the growth of crystalline size and the as-prepared materials were small in size (10–20 nm). In our experiments, Pr-doped BSO samples exhibited enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity compared to the undoped BSO, and the optimal dopant amount of Pr was 1.0 mol% for the best photocatalytic activity. On the basis of the calculated PL spectra, the mechanism of enhanced photocatalytic activity has been discussed.