Photocatalytic hydrogen production by strontium titanate-based perovskite doped europium (Sr0.97Eu0.02Zr0.1Ti0.9O3)

The aim of the present research was to study the photocatalytic activity under UV/visible irradiation of the ceramic compound Sr 0.97 Eu 0.02 Zr 0.1 Ti 0.9 O 3 (SEZT1) using ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) as a sacrificial agent to produce H 2 . The effects of the reaction parameters such as pH, the initial concentration of the sacrificial agent, and the amount of photocatalyst were systematically investigated through response surface methodology. The results showed that the photocatalytic performance was strongly affected by higher levels of sacrificial agent concentration (70.0 mM EDTA) and by low amounts of photocatalyst SEZT1 (0.01 g/L as catalyst loading) at alkaline conditions (pH 9.0) after 5 h of UV irradiation (6140.04 μmol), using Eu-doped strontium zirconate titanate as semiconductor.