ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Synthesis, characterisation and photocatalytic activity of Ag+- and Sn2+-substituted KSbTeO6

Ravinder Guje, Prathapuram Shrujana, Naveen Kumar Veldurthi, Ravi Gundeboina, Nageshwar Rao Kappera, and Vithal Muga

Department of Chemistry, Osmania University, Hyderabad 500 007, India

E-mail: mugavithal@gmail.com

Abstract: Ag⁺- and Sn²⁺-substituted KSbTeO₆ were prepared by a facile ion-exchange method at ambient temperature. All the samples were characterised by scanning electron microscopy, energydispersive spectra, thermogravimetric analysis, powder X-ray diffraction, Raman spectra and UV-VIS diffuse reflectance spectra. Both Sn²⁺- and Ag⁺-substituted KSbTeO₆ were crystallised in a cubic lattice with the Fd3̅m space group. The band-gap energy of all the samples was deduced from their UV-VIS diffuse reflectance spectral profiles. The visible light-induced photocatalytic oxidation of the methylene blue (MB) dye was examined in the presence of all the as-prepared materials. The Ag⁺- and Sn2⁺-substituted KSbTeO₆ exhibited a higher photocatalytic activity than the parent KSbTeO₆ in degradation of the MB dye under visible light irradiation.

Keywords: defect pyrochlore – X-ray diffraction – Raman spectroscopy – photodegradation

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1515/chempap-2015-0013

Chemical Papers 69 (2) 269–278 (2015)