Photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue on nitrogen doped layered perovskites, CsM2Nb3O10 (M=Ba and Sr)

Layered transition metal perovskite oxides of general formula AB2M3O10 (A=K, Rb, Cs; B=Ca, Sr, Ba; M=Nb, Ta) have been studied as photocatalysts for the decomposition of organic dyes and production of hydrogen via water splitting. In the present investigation, we have prepared nitrogen doped layered perovskite, CsM2Nb3O10 (M=Ba, Sr). The N-doped analogues were obtained by heating CsM2Nb3O10 and urea at 400 °C. All compounds were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, FT-IR, SEM–EDS and UV–visible diffuse reflectance spectra. Compared to parent oxides the bandgap energy of nitrogen doped layered oxides were reduced considerably. The photocatalytic activity of all samples was studied by the degradation of methylene blue (MB). The nitrogen doped compounds show higher photocatalytic activity than the corresponding parent oxides.