Enhanced sonocatalytic activity of BaZrO3 by insertion of Fe3+

In this study, samples Barium zirconate (BaZrO3) with addition of Fe3+ (4%-BZFO4 and 16%-BZFO16) were prepared by the microwave-assisted hydrothermal method and the sonocatalytic activity was explored for the first time. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to investigate the crystalline structure and confirms the cubic phase for all samples, with the crystallite size decreasing with increasing Fe3+ concentration. Furthermore, the band gap energy was also reduced, with estimated values of 4.97, 2.90 and 2.41 eV for BZO, BZFO4 and BZFO16, respectively. The micrographs revealed that all samples have a spherical shape with an average grain size of 2.03 for BZO, 1.96 for BZFO4 and 0.60 μm for BZFO16. Sonocatalytic activity was investigated through the removal of the Rhodamine B (RhB) dye in solution. BZO showed the capacity to remove ∼6% of RhB, while BZOF16 was able to induce ∼12% removal. BZFO4 showed approximately 7 times greater sonocatalytic activity compared to BZO, removing ∼43% of the dye. In additional, BZFO4 showed excellent reusability, demonstrating that it can be considered a stable sonocatalyst. Therefore, this study provides a reference for the development of high-efficiency sonocatalysts, to be used in environmental remediation.