Modification of photocatalytic property of BaTiO3 perovskite structure by Fe2O3 nanoparticles for CO2 reduction in gas phase

In this work, perovskite structure of BaTiO₃ was coupled with Fe₂O₃ in different molar ratios achieving the best photocatalytic performance of CO₂ reduction in the presence of CH₄ as reducing agent; both of them are main greenhouse gases. The photocatalysts were synthesized by facile hydrothermal method. The samples were characterized by XRD, FTIR, FESEM, EDX, UV–Vis DRS, and photoluminescence (PL) analyses. The BaTiO₃ synthesized in this research showed a weak PL signal which is due to the intrinsic ferroelectric property as has been observed in previous reports. Compared to the pure BaTiO₃ and Fe₂O₃, the heterojunctions exhibited enhanced photocatalytic activity. The maximum CO₂ reduction under visible light irradiation was obtained to be 22% during 60 min process time. The enhanced photocatalytic activity could be attributed to the increased optical absorption, the good separation, and immigration of photogenerated charge carriers that decreased the recombination rate of charge carriers in the n–n heterojunction.