β-Ga2O3 nanostructures for photocatalytic degradation of red amaranth toxic dye

Abstract

Beta gallium oxide (β-Ga2O3) microstructures composed of ∼50 nm nanoparticles were synthesized by the hydrothermal method. Using the Tauc plot method a value of ∼4.9 eV was obtained for the optical band gap of β-Ga2O3. TEM and XRD analyses revealed high crystallinity of the β-phase of gallium oxide nanostructures. Since there are few publications for the photocatalytic properties of β-Ga2O3 the obtained results contribute to better understanding of the photocatalytic effect of this material on toxic dye red amaranth. Moreover, it is shown that β-Ga2O3 is a very efficient photocatalyst leading to high percentage degradation of dyes for relatively short periods. For example, the degradation of red amaranth and rhodamine B toxic dyes under UV light irradiation reached 97% and 100% after 165 and 120 min, respectively.