Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production in Water-Methanol Mixture over Iron-doped CaTiO 3

CaTi1-xFexO3 (0 <= x <= 0.4) solid solution photocatalysts were synthesized by iron doping during the conventional solid state reaction at 1100 degrees C for 5 h and characterized by ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) absorption spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, morphological analysis. We found that CaTi1-xFexO3 samples not only absorb UV but also the visible light photons. This is because the Fe substitution at Ti-site in CaTi1-xFexO3 lattice induces the band transition from Fe3d to the Fe3d+ Ti3d hybrid orbital. The photocatalytic activity of Fe doped CaTiO(3)samples for hydrogen production under UV light irradiation decreased with the increase in the Fe concentration. There exists an optimized concentration of iron in CaTiO3, which yields a maximum photocatalytic activity under visible light (lambda >= 420 nm) photons.