Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity of Perovskite SrTiO3 nanorods

Abstract

The sol-gel employed perovskite structured Strontium titanate (SrTiO3) nanorods with enhanced
photocatalytic activity are reported. The as-synthesized SrTiO3 nanorods with diameters ranging from 6nm
to ~10nm and length around ~40nm were evidenced from the Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), the
crystallographic nature of the nanorods were recorded using Powder X-ray Diffraction (P-XRD), the optical
absorption around 375nm revealed the bandgap energy of 3.18eV. The enhanced photocatalytic activity can
be attributed to the efficient charge separation and transfer of electron-hole pairs (under UV irradiation)
owing to the large surface area. In summary, as-synthesized SrTiO3 nanorods exhibited better stability and
proficiency towards photocatalytic application.