Combustion Derived SrTiO3: Synthesis, Characterization and Evaluation of Electrochemical Behavior Towards Quantification of Hg(II) Ions

In this work, we are reporting the synthesis of porous SrTiO3 nanoparticles by using solution combustion route employing strontium nitrate and titanium-peroxo complex as oxidizer. The results of physico-analytical techniques revealed that SrTiO3 have a relatively small particle size, good dispersibility and diminished agglomeration. Powder X-ray diffraction pattern shows cubic perovskite structure (space group Pm3m) and the morphology was observed using a scanning electron microscope. The band gap of 3.24 eV was calculated using the diffuse reflectance spectrum. The surface area (~26.51 m2/g) of SrTiO3 was measured by BET method. SrTiO3 nanoparticles show violet-blue-green photoluminescence emission spectrum at room temperature. The photocatalytic degradation was carried out to investigate the photocatalytic activity of SrTiO3 under UV-light and evaluated for the electrochemical quantification of Hg(II) ions in aqueous solution using differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry. The results reveal that SrTiO3 nanoparticles show better quantification result for Hg(II) ions.