Wet chemical synthesis and photocatalytic activity of potassium niobate K6Nb10.8O30 powders

The nanometer potassium niobate powders with tungsten bronze (TB)-type structure were synthesized by a wet chemical method and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis confirmed the niobium with mixed valence states exists in the crystal structure of the photocatalyst, which may be advantage for increasing the photocatalytic activity. The band gap of K6Nb10.8O30 powders was estimated to be about 2.92 eV and shows a markedly blue-shift as compared to that of the sample obtained by the solid-state reaction. The photocatalytic activity of the samples was evaluated by degradation of acid red G under UV irradiation and the photocatalytic reaction follows first-order kinetics. The photocatalytic activity of the as-prepared sample is much higher than that of sample synthesized by solid-state reaction, and slightly higher than that of P25-TiO2.