Synthesis of Lead-Doped SrTiO₃ Perovskite Type Oxides and Their Photocatalytic Activity Under Visible Light Irradiation.

Pure and lead-doped SrTiO₃ perovskite type oxides were successfully synthesized by sol-gel method and characterized by XRD, SEM and DRS. From the results of XRD, the metal replacement with the Pb ion on the crystal lattice does not change the high crystallinity of the perovskite structure. UV-vis DRS analysis shows that Pb was in situ doped in the lattice of SrTiO₃ and the absorption band shifted to a higher wavelength on the Pb-doped SrTiO₃ sample compared to the pure SrTiO₃ sample. We also investigated the photocatalytic activity of Pb-doped SrTiO₃ for the decomposition of Rhodamine B under visible light irradiation. From the results of photocatalytic decomposition of RhB, a doping of lead into SrTiO₃ perovskite oxides enhanced the photocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation.