Hydrothermal synthesis, growth mechanism, optical properties and photocatalytic activity of cubic SrTiO3 particles for the degradation of cationic and anionic dyes

Cubic SrTiO3 particles were synthesized by a hydrothermal reaction method under the alkaline condition using commercial P25 TiO2 and Sr(OH)2∙8H2O powders as the starting materials. It is demonstrated that the hydrothermal reaction duration time has a strong influence on the phase purity, surface morphology, optical properties and photocatalytic activity of prepared samples. The effect of hydrothermal reaction duration time, pH value, dye concentration and catalyst dosage on the photocatalytic activity of the phase-pure cubic SrTiO3 was investigated by the degradation of cationic and anionic dyes under simulated sunlight irradiation. At normal pH condition (pH = 6), the cubic SrTiO3 exhibits a higher photocatalytic activity toward the degradation of the anionic dye CR than the degradation of other cationic dyes including RhB, MB and MO. The growth mechanism and photocatalytic mechanism of the cubic SrTiO3 were systematically investigated and discussed.