Tunable photocatalytic activity of photochromic Fe-Mn-codoped LiNbO_3 nanocrystals

The tunable photocatalytic activity of LN nanoparticles is a useful integratable function of LN-based lab-on-chip platform for unraveling the biological complexity in population. In this paper, Fe-Mn-codoped LiNbO3 nanoparticles were prepared by a soft-chemistry route. The nanoparticle absorption in UV-Vis range was modified through photochromic effect, and their influence on the photocatalytic activity of the nanoparticles was evaluated by the degradation of Rhodamine B under xenon lamp illumination. It was found that Fe-Mn-codoped LiNbO3 nanocrystals with less Vis absorption exhibited higher photocatalytic efficiency for photocatalytic dye solution. The mechanism of tuning the photocatalytic activity through photochromic effect was proposed for Fe-Mn-codoped LiNbO3 nanocrystals and the holes released through charge transfer from Mn3+ are emphasized for the explanation of the photocatalytic behavior. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America