LOW TEMPERATURE SYNTHESIS, CHARACTERIZATION AND SOME PHYSICAL STUDIES ON ALKALINE EARTH METAL VANADATES

Abstract

Alkaline earth metal ceramics MV2O6 (M = Ba, Sr and Ca) were prepared via sol-gel chemical technique at low temperatures. The phase formation and their crystal structure were confirmed by X-ray powdered diffraction measurement. The BaV2O6 and SrV2O6 are found to have orthorhombic and CaV2O6 with monoclinic structure. Impurity checks were done by FTIR spectrometry. The temperature dependence of electrical resistivity of these vanadates show semiconducting nature, which is consistent with their electronic band structures. The energy band gaps increase in the order of CaV2O6> SrV2O6> BaV2O6. The photo-catalytic efficiency was investigated by photo-degradation of methylene blue (MB) solutions employing solar light and found to be promising photo-catalyst.