Theoretical and experimental study of La/Ni co-doped SrTiO3 photocatalyst

The effects of Ni and La co-doping on the electronic structure of SrTiO3 were investigated by theoretical (DFT) and experimental work. The calculation results revealed that doping sites of La and Ni impurities had a great influence on geometric structure and electronic properties of SrTiO3. Pure SrTiO3 and doped SrTiO3 were synthesized through citrate sol–gel method. The as-synthesized photocatalysts were characterized by XRD, UV–visible absorption spectroscopy and nitrogen adsorption, and employed to degrade methylene blue. La/Ni co-doped SrTiO3 exhibited the highest activity. The experimental results were in good agreement with the calculation results.