Ceramic materials based on bismuth chromates, their synthesis by combustion with mannitol, photocatalytic and conductive properties

In this work, for the first time, combustion synthesis with mannitol was used to obtain materials based on bismuth chromates formed in the ternary systems MeO–Cr2O3–Bi2O3 (Me = Sr, Ca). This synthesis method is considered a special case of the sol-gel process, the advantages of which are: reduced energy consumption and a high degree of product purity. The article describes the results of photocatalytic and electrophysical studies of the obtained powders and ceramics sintered from them. While the synthesized powders showed insignificant photocatalytic activity in the example of the methylene blue decomposition reaction, the ceramic samples had a conductivity at 600 °C from 9.55 × 10−4 to 1.0 × 10−2 S/cm. Doping with 10 mol.% CaO of the compound Bi14CrO24 (β1-phase) turned out to be the most effective for improving the electrically conductive properties.