Synthesis of Strontium Titanate Microtubule and Their Photocatalytic Activity for Degradation of Furfural in Aqueous Solutions

Abstract

AbstractStrontium titanate microtubules have successfully been prepared using natural fibers of cotton as bio-templates, the cotton fibers are infiltrated with strontium titanate sol and subsequently sintered in air at high temperatures to produce the final strontium titanate microtubules. The samples were characterized by XRD, SEM and FTIR, respectively. The photocatalytic degradation of furfural in an aqueous solution was investigated. The results show that the synthesized strontium titanates are in the shape of broken microtubules. The photocatalytic capacity of synthetic strontium titanate microtubules under the condition of calcination temperature at 1000 °C is the highest. In the medium of pH 5-7, the catalyst loading is 2 g/L, for the initial concentrations of furfural no more than 6 mg/L, in 120min, furfural macromolecules are destroyed completely. The degradation process followed the Langmuir- Hinshelwood first-order reaction kinetic model.