Synthesis of bulk BaTiO₃ aerogel and characterization of photocatalytic properties

BaTiO₃ aerogels with a photocatalytic property were synthesized from metal barium via nanoparticle assembly method combined with ethanol supercritical drying technology. The specific surface area of the BaTiO₃ aerogel could reach up to 233.24 m²/g, and the average pore size and total pore volume were 26.1 nm and 3.50 cm3/g, respectively. The sample showed excellent adsorption capacity and photocatalytic performance for 10 mg/L methyl orange solution (pH = 3), and the degradation rate reached up to 92.59% in 2 h, which was superior to BaTiO₃ nanopowder. Moreover, the photodegradation rate was still about 80% after five-cycle experiments.