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KBi₃; LiBiO₃; synthesis; crystal structure; photocatalysis.

In the present study, KBiO₃ is synthesized by a standard oxidation technique while LiBiO₃ is prepared by hydrothermal method. The synthesized catalysts are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning ElectronMicroscopy (SEM), BET surface area analysis and Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (DRS). The XRD patterns suggest that KBiO₃ crystallizes in the cubic structure while LiBiO₃ crystallizes in orthorhombic structure and both of these adopt the tunnel structure. The SEM images reveal micron size polyhedral shaped KBiO₃ particles and rod-like or prismatic shape particles for LiBiO₃. The band gap is calculated from the diffuse reflectance spectrum and is found to be 2.1 eV and 1.8 eV for KBiO₃ and LiBiO₃, respectively. The band gap and the crystal structure data suggest that these materials can be used as photocatalysts. The photocatalytic activity of KBiO₃ and LiBiO₃ are evaluated for the degradation of anionic and cationic dyes, respectively, under UV and solar radiations.

Rajalakshmi Ramachandran¹ M Sathiya² K Ramesha² A S Prakash² Giridhar Madras^{3 1} A K Shukla³

1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012, India
2. CSIR-Central Electrochemical Research Institute-Madras Unit, CSIR-Madras Complex, Taramani, Chennai 600 113, India
3. Solid State and Structural Chemistry Unit, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012, India

Published

July 2011

Manuscript received

10 December 2010

Manuscript revised

10 March 2011

Accepted

6 April 2011