One-pot synthesis of Ag-modified SrTiO3: synergistic effect of decoration and doping for highly efficient photocatalytic NOx degradation under LED

Strontium titanate is an ideal cubic-structure perovskite oxide that finds application in hydrogen production and water pollutants degradation field. However, its photocatalytic activity is limited under UV irradiation due to its wide energy band bap (~ 3.2 eV). To overcome this limitation, different strategies, such as metal-doping or metal-decoration, have emerged. Here, Ag-modified-SrTiO3 photocatalysts were prepared for the first time by a cheap, simple and sustainable approach based on the use of Ag-enriched wastewaters. The Ag-decorated SrTiO3 synthesized by a two steps method photodegraded by nearly 77% of NOx within 3 h. The Ag-modified SrTiO3 prepared by aone-pot synthesis led to a doubly modification of the oxide: Ag+ doping and Ag nanoparticles- decoration. In this case the use of Ag-enriched wastewaters led to poor photocatactivity of the photocatalyst, probably related to the presence of other metals in the waste. However, the use of a pure Ag precursor permitted the fabrication of a highly efficient material achieving complete photodegradation of NOx, exhibiting a photo-activity 4 times higher than bare SrTiO3 and 1.3 times more active than Ag-decorated material. The photo-catalytic enhancement was attributed to the combined effect of Ag-doping and Ag-decoration on SrTiO3, which contributed to a narrow band gap (2.80 eV), as well as the formation of heterojunctions that promotes the separation of photogenerated charges, respectively. This material showed good stability during recycling tests, maintaining high performances after five cycles. Eventually, active species were identified using various scav-engers by trapping holes and radicals generated during the photocatalytic degradation process.