Aurivillius family of layered perovskites, BiREWO6 (RE = La, Pr, Gd, and Dy): Synthesis, characterization, and photocatalytic studies

The present work deals with the synthesis, characterization, and photocatalytic studies of layered perovskites belonging to Aurivillius family. Layered perovskites of various chemical compositions, BiREWO6 (RE = La, Pr, Gd, and Dy), were synthesized by an ethylene glycol-assisted sol-gel method. These materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier transform infrared, Raman, and ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance techniques. The composition of all these materials was obtained from EDS. The unit cell lattice parameters were attained from Rietveld refinement program, Fullprof.2k, by refining the d-lines of BiREWO6. The band gap energy of these samples was obtained from the Kubelka-Munk plot. The photocatalytic activity of all the samples was evaluated by photodegradation of methylene blue. The mechanistic degradation pathway of methylene blue was studied using radical quenchers.