title: Sonochemical synthesis of porous NiTiO3nanorods for photocatalytic degradation of ceftiofur sodium.
abstract: Porous NiTiO3nanorods were synthesized through the sonochemical route followed by calcination at various temperature conditions. Surface morphology of the samples was tuned by varying the heat treatment temperature from 100 to 600°C. The synthesized NiTiO3nanorods were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, diffused reflectance spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analyses. The characterization studies revealed that the NiTiO3nanomaterial was tuned to porous and perfectly rod shaped structure during the heat treatment at 600°C. The porous NiTiO3nanorods showed visible optical response and thus can be utilized in the photocatalytic degradation of ceftiofur sodium (CFS) under direct sunlight. The photoluminescence intensity of the porous NiTiO3nanorods formed while heating at 600°C was lower than that of the as-synthesized NiTiO3sample owing to the photogenerated electrons delocalization along the one dimensional nanorods and this delocalization resulted in the reduction of the electron-hole recombination rate. The photocatalytic degradation of ceftiofur sodium (CFS) was carried out using NiTiO3nanorods under the direct sunlight irradiation and their intermediate products were analysed through HPLC to deduce the possible degradation mechanism. The porous NiTiO3nanorods exhibited an excellent photocatalytic activity towards the CFS degradation and further, the photocatalytic activity was increased by the addition of peroxomonosulfate owing to the simultaneous generation of both OH and SO4-.
authors: Nanomaterials & Solar Energy Conversion Lab, Department of Chemistry, National Institute of Technology, Trichy 620 015, India; Advanced Ceramics and Nanotechnology Laboratory, Department of Materials Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Concepcion, Concepcion 407-0409, Chile.
authors: N
authors: N
authors: Pugazhenthiran
authors: Nanomaterials & Solar Energy Conversion Lab, Department of Chemistry, National Institute of Technology, Trichy 620 015, India.
authors: K
authors: K
authors: Kaviyarasan
authors: Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Trichy 620 015, India.
authors: T
authors: T
authors: Sivasankar
authors: Photoactive Nanocomposite Materials, Saint-Petersburg State University, Saint-Petersburg 198504, Russia.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Emeline
authors: Photoactive Nanocomposite Materials, Saint-Petersburg State University, Saint-Petersburg 198504, Russia; Photocatalysis and Nanotechnology, Institut fuer Technische Chemie, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universitaet Hannover, Germany. Electronic address: bahnemann@iftc.uni-hannover.de.
authors: D
authors: D
authors: Bahnemann
authors: Advanced Ceramics and Nanotechnology Laboratory, Department of Materials Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Concepcion, Concepcion 407-0409, Chile. Electronic address: mangal@udec.cl.
authors: R V
authors: RV
authors: Mangalaraja
authors: Nanomaterials & Solar Energy Conversion Lab, Department of Chemistry, National Institute of Technology, Trichy 620 015, India. Electronic address: sanand@nitt.edu.
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Anandan
keywords: Ceftiofur sodium; NiTiO(3) nanorods; Oxidants; Photocatalysis; Sunlight