Microwave-assisted synthesis of perovskite ReFeO3 (Re: La, Sm, Eu, Gd) photocatalyst

A novel microwave-assisted method was applied to the synthesis of perovskite-type samples ReFeO3 (Re: La, Sm, Eu, Gd). Rare earth nitrates were blended with Fe(NO3)3·9H2O to form the precursors, active carbon was used to enhance microwave absorption, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and urea were introduced as the inhibitor and the homogeneous precipitator, respectively. The whole assembly was then exposed to microwave to complete the reaction. Compared with traditional methods, samples prepared by this microwave-assisted method are nanosized powder. All the samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-visible diffuse reflection spectroscopy (UV-vis DRS), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) specific surface area measurements, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Photocatalytic property was evaluated by degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) aqueous solution under visible light irradiation. All these samples exhibit good photocatalytic activity due to their perovskite structure.