β-Ga<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> nanostructures for photocatalytic degradation of red amaranth toxic dye
Jhonathan Castillo-Sáenz, D Domínguez, Abraham Arias, Lucas Arce, M.H. Farı́as, Oscar Perez‐Landeros, Benjamín Valdez, N. Nedev, J. López
Abstract
Abstract Beta gallium oxide ( β -Ga 2 O 3 ) microstructures composed of ∼50 nm nanoparticles were synthesized by the hydrothermal method. Using the Tauc plot method a value of ∼4.9 eV was obtained for the optical band gap of β -Ga 2 O 3 . TEM and XRD analyses revealed high crystallinity of the β -phase of gallium oxide nanostructures. Since there are few publications for the photocatalytic properties of β -Ga 2 O 3 the obtained results contribute to better understanding of the photocatalytic effect of this material on toxic dye red amaranth. Moreover, it is shown that β -Ga 2 O 3 is a very efficient photocatalyst leading to high percentage degradation of dyes for relatively short periods. For example, the degradation of red amaranth and rhodamine B toxic dyes under UV light irradiation reached 97% and 100% after 165 and 120 min, respectively.