Effects of Sintering Temperature on Crystallinity, Morphology, and Photocatalytic Activity of Bi2O3

Bi₂O₃ has successfully been synthesized using precipitation method with sintering temperature variations of 400^oC, 450^o C, 500^o C, 550^o C, and 600^o C. Crystallinity property of resulting Bi₂O₃ powder has also been tested with XRD and morphology properties were tested with SEM. Meanwhile, photocatalytic properties were tested by using it to degrade Rhodamine B under sunlight. Results of XRD tests show that differences in sintering temperature affect crystallite size. Increases in sintering temperature between 400^o C and 500^o C result in greater crystallite size, whereas sintering temperature between 550^o C and 600^oC result in smaller crystallite size. Results of SEM tests show that resulting Bi₂O₃ has rod-like structure, While results of degradation tests show that increases in sintering temperature enhances photocatalytic activities of Bi₂O₃, as evident with Bi₂O₃ undergoing sintering at 600^oC was able to degrade Rhodamine B with 56.74% effectiveness and degradation rate of 0.007 ppm/min.