Issue 11, 2022

Synthesis of SrTiO3 and Al-doped SrTiO3via the deep eutectic solvent route

Abstract

SrTiO3 and aluminum-doped SrTiO3 are synthesized by calcination of metal salts dissolved in a deep eutectic solvent (DES) without any post-synthesis treatment. The DES used is the eutectic mixture of choline chloride (hydrogen bond acceptor) and malonic acid (hydrogen bond donor). Titanium(IV) oxide bis(2,4-pentanedionate) is utilized as the non-volatile, easy-to-handle, DES-soluble titanium precursor. The ammonia gas evolved during the calcination process provides a reducing atmosphere, resulting in the formation of Ti3+ and oxygen vacancies within the SrTiO3 matrix. According to UV-Vis spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, the amount of Ti3+ species and oxygen vacancies (VO) in the synthesized perovskite can be tuned by varying the duration of the calcination process and by adding Al3+ dopants. Solid state 27Al NMR spectroscopy and powder X-ray diffraction confirm the doping of aluminum into the octahedral site of the perovskite structure. Surface photovoltage spectroscopy confirms that Al3+ dopants can eliminate Ti3+ defects in Al-doped SrTiO3. Ultraviolet illumination experiments in water and aqueous methanol show that SrTiO3 and aluminum-doped SrTiO3, after modification with RhxCr2−xO3 or Pt co-catalysts, evolve small amounts of H2 (EQE of 0.0113–0.0173% at 375 nm) with only traces of O2 detected. The lack of photocatalytic activity is attributed to rapid electron-hole recombination in the oxygen vacancy-rich materials and to the lack of crystal facets that could aid charge separation.

Graphical abstract: Synthesis of SrTiO3 and Al-doped SrTiO3via the deep eutectic solvent route

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
08 abr 2022
Accepted
03 mai 2022
First published
05 mai 2022
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Mater. Adv., 2022,3, 4736-4747

Synthesis of SrTiO3 and Al-doped SrTiO3via the deep eutectic solvent route

A. N. Adeyemi, A. Venkatesh, C. Xiao, Z. Zhao, Y. Li, T. Cox, D. Jing, A. J. Rossini, F. E. Osterloh and J. V. Zaikina, Mater. Adv., 2022, 3, 4736 DOI: 10.1039/D2MA00404F

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications, without requesting further permission from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given and it is not used for commercial purposes.

To request permission to reproduce material from this article in a commercial publication, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party commercial publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements