SrTiO3 nanocubes synthesized by polymeric surfactant-aided sol–gel method for sustainable photocatalytic remediation of tetracycline antibiotic in water

Abstract

Strontium titanate (SrTiO₃) cubic nanostructures have been grown by the sol–gel method aided with Pluronic® F-127 surfactant by the variation of its molar ratio to its precursors. Various descriptive tools evaluated the synthesized materials, revealing the significant influence of altering the F-127 concentration on the development of texture and photoactivity related to the absorption of light and separation of charges. The synthesized nanocube structures demonstrated adjustable size ranges from 50 to 250 nm, and varying oxygen vacancy content, based on the used F-127 portion. The synthesized SrTiO₃ nanocubes were employed for the photocatalytic oxidation of 45 µM tetracycline (TCY) antibiotic in aqueous solution under UV light. The SrTiO₃ synthesized with 0.015 % F-127 content exhibited the narrowest band gap of 3.21 eV and the uppermost photocatalytic activity. Notably, the photooxidation efficiency of this sample was the highest (80 %) among the SrTiO₃ samples prepared with varying F-127 content. Additionally, a 1.5 gL⁻¹ dose of SrTiO3 synthesized with 0.015 % F-127 content achieved complete photooxidation of TCY, with an initial reaction rate of 1.026 µmol min⁻¹ and maintained 96 % of its original oxidation efficacy after the fifth cycle.