Phase-controlled synthesis, surface morphology, and photocatalytic activity of the perovskite AlFeO3

Perovskite-type AlFeO3 powders are synthesized by a modified polyacrylamide gel route using different chelating agents at different pHs. X-ray diffraction and Raman results indicate that the AlFeO3 powders synthesized with oxalic acid are rhombohedral structure, while the AlFeO3 powders fabricated by using the other chelating agents exhibit an orthorhombic structure. The scanning electron microscopic images indicate that the morphology of the AlFeO3 samples depend on the choice of chelating agent and pH value. In addition, the particle size of samples with rhombohedral structure is larger than that of the samples with orthorhombic structure. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopic analysis indicate that the AlFeO3 powders fabricated at pH = 7 have good phase purity and uniform size. Photocatalytic activities of the AlFeO3 samples are determined by the degradation of rhodamine B dye in the presence of hydrogen peroxide and the results show that the samples will probably be applicable in the development of highly efficient photocatalyst. In addition, the rhombohedral AlFeO3 samples exhibit better photocatalysis than the orthorhombic samples, which is probably because that the crystal structure of AlFeO3 samples play a more important role than particle size in photocatalytic activity. The as-prepared AlFeO3 photocatalyst exhibits a pronounced photocatalytic activity for the decomposition of rhodamine B under visible-light irradiation, which is expected to widen the potential applications for perovskite-type oxide AlFeO3. A novel perovskite-type photocatalyst AlFeO3 is synthesized by a modified polyacrylamide gel route using different chelating agents. The crystal structure of AlFeO3 sample depend on the choice of chelating agent and AlFeO3 photocatalyst, in the presence of hydrogen peroxide, exhibit a pronounced photocatalytic activity for the decomposition of rhodamine B under simulated sunlight.