The Photocatalytic Activity of CaTiO(3) Derived from the Microwave-Melting Heating Process of Blast Furnace Slag

The extraction of titanium-bearing components in the form of CaTiO(3) is an efficient utilization of blast furnace slag. The photocatalytic performance of this obtained CaTiO(3) (MM-CaTiO(3)) as a catalyst for methylene blue (MB) degradation was evaluated in this study. The analyses indicated that the MM-CaTiO(3) had a completed structure with a special length–diameter ratio. Furthermore, the oxygen vacancy was easier to generate on a MM-CaTiO(3)(110) plane during the photocatalytic process, contributing to improving photocatalytic activity. Compared with traditional catalysts, MM-CaTiO(3) has a narrower optical band gap and visible-light responsive performance. The degradation experiments further confirmed that the photocatalytic degradation efficiency of pollutants by using MM-CaTiO(3) was 3.2 times that of pristine CaTiO(3) in optimized conditions. Combined with molecular simulation, the degradation mechanism clarified that acridine of MB molecular was stepwise destroyed by using MM-CaTiO(3) in short times, which is different from demethylation and methylenedioxy ring degradation by using TiO(2). This study provided a promising routine for using solid waste to obtain catalysts with excellent photocatalytic activity and was found to be in keeping with sustainable environmental development.