Effect of Fe Doping on Dye Degradation of Calcium Titanate

In this study, a solid state process was used to synthesize Fe-doped CaFexTi1-xO3-δ with x = 0.05, 0.2, 0.5, 0.8, and 1.0. Characterization was done using X-Ray Diffraction, Diffuse Reflectance Spectra, and Tauc plot which confirms that the Fe substitution causes the band gap to move toward the visible portion of the spectrum in all produced materials. The degradation of Methylene Blue (MB) dye in sunlight was assessed for photocatalytic activity, considering the deleterious effects of complex, aromatic, and organic dyes. CaTiO3 showed complete degradation of MB dye within 120 min of photocatalytic reaction time. Fe substitution is found to decrease the photocatalytic activity of CaTiO3 unlike substitution in TiO2 where photocatalytic activity has been reported to increase. We recommend this system and believe that this will open new era of materials synthesis and activity study.