Exploring the Synthesis of Novel Sillenite Bi12SnO20: Effect of Calcination Temperature on the Phase Formation and Catalytic Performance

Sillenite materials have been the focus of intense research in recent years due to their unique properties and distinct structure with the I23 space group. This electronic structure has reflected high-quality applications and results for some environmental processes such as photocatalysis. This paper investigates the synthesis of a new sillenite, Bi12SnO20, and its characteristics, emphasizing its potential for photocatalytic applications. The sillenite Bi12SnO20 has been synthesized through the co-precipitation method by mixing the appropriate ratio of Bi and Sn ions. The obtained particles after precipitation and drying were characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and then calcined at different temperatures based on this analysis. The phase has been identified by structural analysis using X-ray diffraction (XRD), and its morphology after identification was carried out by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The calcination temperature has been found to have a critical role in obtaining the phase, where the phase was found to be formed at temperatures between 310 and 400 °C and changed to other phases within higher temperatures. The physicochemical properties of this sillenite were also studied by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and UV Visible Spectrometer (UV-Vis). To study the obtained phases at different calcination temperatures, performance testing was performed under visible light to remove different contaminants, which are Tetracycline, Bisphenol A, and Rhodamine B. The phase Bi12SnO20 obtained at 350 °C with a catalyst dose of 1 g/L showed the highest performance for removing these pollutants with concentrations of 20 mg/L, with an efficiency of almost 100% within 2 h. This work will be useful as an important resource and strategy for the development of this sillenite material in its pure phase.