An Investigation of Photocatalytic Activity of Coatings Based on Strontium Bismuthate Deposited on a Ceramic Carrier

Abstract

A study was carried out to obtain effective photocatalytic coatings on a ceramic silicate carrier. The analysis of the characteristics of silicate materials, such as: ceramic carrier "Biopur"; porous glass carrier "Siporax"; glass-ceramic carrier (sitall) "Biopur forte" produced by the company "SERA", Germany, was made. According to X-ray phase analysis data, it was shown that the “Biopur” ceramic support is formed by magnesium aluminosilicates of the composition MgAl2Si3O10 and MgAl2Si4O12. The porous material “Siporax” is X-ray amorphous. The silicate material “Biopur forte” does not have a pronounced amorphous component in its structure and can be assigned to the class of sitall with a high SiO2 content and a low content of alkali and alkaline earth metal cations in the structure. A method for impregnating a ceramic support with a solution of a bismuth photo-catalyst precursor, a specially developed composition of a complex of bismuth with sorbitol, is considered. An effective concentration of a solution of a complex of bismuth with sorbitol in ethanol equal to 10% was found. By low-temperature pyrolysis at , photo-catalytically active coatings of strontium bismuthates were obtained on each of the considered types of ceramic supports. The highest photocatalytic activity was detected in the coating deposited on a ceramic carrier with a glass structure – “Biopur forte”. A study of the photocatalytic activity of coatings, based on strontium bismuthate, depending on the multiplicity of coating on a “Biopur forte” ceramic carrier, was made. The effective number of layers of the photocatalytic coating on a “Biopur forte” ceramic carrier is determined, which corresponds to the highest rate of decrease in the optical density of a model organic pollutant upon irradiation with visible light in the spectrum.