Enhanced visible-light-driven photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline by Cr3+ doping SrTiO3 cubic nanoparticles

The removal of tetracyclines (TC), the extensively used antibiotics, from the environment has become an important issue. Recently, photocatalytic oxidation on the surface of semiconductors has been found to provide a good tool for the degradation of TC; however, most of these reactions are UV-light driven rather than visible-light driven. Here, Cr doping of SrTiO3 results in a large decrease in the band gap energy, making Cr3+ doped SrTiO3 (Cr-STO) an attractive material for use as a visible-light-driven photocatalyst for tetracycline (TC) degradation. The photoactivity is improved when the Cr/Sr weight ratio changes from 0.5% to 2%, and decreases when the Cr/Sr weight ratio changes from 3% to 10%. In this paper, we also explain the relationship between the doping and the photocatalytic activity. The existence of ˙OH radicals and holes was studied by the electron spin resonance (ESR) spin-trap technique and trapping experiments.