LAUSR

Abstract BaTiO 3 was prepared by co-precipitation method and BaTiF 6 was synthesized by wet impregnation method using BaTiO 3 as the precursor. The phase structure of BaTiO 3 and BaTiF 6 were characterized by PXRD and the results confirmed the pure tetragonal phase for BaTiO 3 and a slightly distorted rhombohedral structure for BaTiF 6 . The calculated values of tolerance factor confirms the successful replacement of oxygen ion by fluorine ion in the BaTiO 3 lattice. BaTiF 6 showed an extended absorbance in the visible region compared to BaTiO 3 and their band gap energy values were found to be 2.91 and 3.03 eV respectively. FTIR studies confirmed the presence of F in BaTiF 6 and the F-Ti-F stretching modes are observed in the region of 450–600 cm −1 . SEM images of BaTiF 6 showed the formation of fibrous hair-like morphology. The chemical environment and elemental binding states of Ba, Ti, O and F were confirmed by XPS analysis. BET analysis showed that BaTiF 6 had higher surface area compared to BaTiO 3 . The mode of charge carrier recombination mechanism of each photocatalyst was studied by the PL technique. The better photocatalytic performance of BaTiF 6 under UV/solar light is discussed in detail.