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In this study, we synthesized a novel ceramic material Bi0.5Na0.5Ti0.95 (Ni0.2Fe0.2Sb0.6)0.05O3 named BNT-NFS via the solid-state route and assessed its efficacy as a photocatalyst for removing methylene blue dye from wastewater. The synthesized samples underwent thorough characterization using thermogravimetric analysis combined differential thermal analysis TGA-TDA, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis, and UV–Visible measurements. TGA-DTA and XRD analyses confirmed the successful formation of BNT-NFS material at 1150 °C, exhibiting a hexagonal phase structure. FTIR analysis revealed an intense band at 421 cm−1, corresponding to metal-oxide vibrations in the BNT-NFS spectrum. SEM observations unveiled a distinct microstructure of BNT-NFS composed of grains of varying sizes. BET analysis indicated that the prepared BNT-NFS powder possessed a significant specific surface area of 261.36 m2/g. Optical and photocatalytic assessments demonstrated that BNF-NFS perovskite is a semiconductor material with a band gap of 2.73 eV, exhibiting satisfactory photocatalytic activity for methylene blue MB dye removal. Notably, the removal efficiency reached 60% after 210 min of exposure to sunlight irradiation. This result is better than that registered for the pristine BNT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanoparticles of pure and co-doped according to the formula Ca1−yCeyFe1−xMgxO3−δ (x = y = 0.0, y = 0.1; x = 0.0, 0.1, 0.2) have been successfully synthesized through a wet chemical sol–gel method using citric acid as a chelating agent. So, the prepared materials after calcination at 800 °C for 6 h were examined for structural, optical, and photocatalytic properties using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (IRTF), and ultraviolet–visible spectrophotometer (UV–Vis). The X-ray diffraction measurements of all the compositions confirm the formation of a single-phase orthorhombic perovskite-related structure, with a Pcmn space group without any other heterogeneity or structural transition. The crystallite size is found to decrease with increasing Mg2+ doping in Ca0.9Ce0.1Fe1−xMgxO3−δ. The results of the FTIR analysis confirmed the presence of the typical band characteristics of metal oxygen bonds, which are features of FeO6 octaedra in the oxide perovskite materials. UV–Vis optical spectra revealed that the band gap of pure CaFeO3−δ observed in the visible range was tuned by doping Ce3+ and Mg2+, which has improved the photodegradation efficiency and kinetic degradation rates of methylene blue under sunlight irradiation. The possible mechanism of the photocatalytic activity is also proposed in this contribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, (0.54 − x)Pb(Cr1/5,Ni1/5,Sb3/5)O3-0.46PbZrO3-xPbTiO3 ceramic powders were synthesized by the conventional solid-state reaction process (where x = 0.42, 0.44, 0.46, 0.48 and 0.50). The obtained samples have been characterized using different techniques such as X-ray Diffraction (XRD) which reveals that the samples consist of a mixture of tetragonal and rhombohedral phases (morphotropic phase boundary MPB) in the range of 0.46 ≤ x ≤ 0.48, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) which shows an increase of the average grain size in the morphotropic phase boundary, dielectric measurements and Raman spectroscopy have been performed to get more insights into the effects of titanium dopant (Ti) content on the properties of PCNS–PZ–PT ceramics near the morphotropic phase boundary (MPB). It was found that the ceramic sintered at 1180 °C with Ti = 46% achieves excellent dielectric properties (εr = 17,641.58, tan δ = 0.120 and Tc = 576 K). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]