Effect of calcination temperature on the photocatalytic activity of CaSb2O6 nanoparticles prepared by co-precipitation method

CaSb2O6 precursors were obtained via co-precipitation technique and subsequently they underwent calcination at different temperatures. The effect of calcination temperature on the crystallite size, specific surface area, crystallinity and defect structure of CaSb2O6 has been studied in detail. It is found that the photocatalytic activity of the as-prepared CaSb2O6 samples for methyl orange (MO) degradation under UV light is strongly dependent on the calcination temperature. The results demonstrated that the CaSb2O6 nanoparticles calcined at 900 °C possess the best photocatalytic activity and excellent photocatalytic stability. A possible mechanism of the photocatalysis over CaSb2O6 was also presented.