Photo-degradation organic dyes by Sb-based organic-inorganic hybrid ferroelectrics

The organic-inorganic hybrid halide compounds have emerged as one of the most promising photoelectric material for their superior optoelectronic properties and hold great prospects for renewable energy substitutes and environmental protection as photocatalysis. Here, we report the optical properties of the Sb-based organic-inorganic hybrid ferroelectric materials: pyridine-4-aminium tetrachloroantimonate ((C₅H₇N₂)SbCl₄, sample 1), piperidin-1-aminium tetrachloroantimonate ((C₅H₁₃N₂)SbCl₄, sample 2) and tris(trimethylammonium) nonachlorodiantimonate (((CH₃)₃NH)₃Sb₂Cl₉, sample 3), which are a kind of exploited efficient photocatalysts. Samples 2 and 3 exhibit distinct photoelectric respond, which are mainly ascribed to their minor narrow band-gap compared with sample 1. For the ferroelectrics, the intrinsic of spontaneous polarization of sample 3 at room temperature is favourable for the separation of photogenerated electrons and holes within the photorespond process. Moreover, sample 3 shows the highest efficiency of photo-decomposed Rhodamine B (90.2% within 80 min) and Methyl Orange (MO) (97.4% within 50 min), thanks to the photo-excited electrons and holes promoting the formation of oxidative radical species during the photo-redox progress. These findings prove that the development of a novel Sb-based organic-inorganic hybrid halide compounds with good stability in the degradation of organic dyes paves a way to designing new photocatalyst.