Hydrothermal Synthesis and Characterization of Perovskite Oxide AgTaO3

The perovskite-type AgTaO3 crystals were prepared by mild hydrothermal method and determined by powder X-ray diffraction. Rietveld refinement indicates that AgTaO3 crystallized in an orthorhombic system with the space group Pcmn. The lattice parameters are a=5.5822(1) nm, b=7.8522(2) nm and c=5.5347(1) nm, with alpha=beta=gamma= 90.0 degrees. The compound was characterized by scanning electron microscopy(SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), high resolution transmission electron microscopy(HR-TEM) and UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectrometry (UV-Vis DRS). The photocatalytic activity of AgTaO3 powder was evaluated by the degradation of Congo red under UV-light irradiation. The result shows that the titled compound has a high photocatalytic activity at room temperature and potential application in photocatalysis.