Manipulating and Revealing the Roles of La and Zr Dopants into ZnTiO₃ Perovskite Toward Heterogeneous Photocatalytic Degradation of Tetracycline Under Visible Light Irradiation

Various ZnTiO₃ perovskites replacing A and B sites by La, Zr dopants were successfully synthesized via the ultrasonic-assisted sol–gel method. Different calcination temperatures, La–Zr dopants were examined, followed by the characterization of various techniques. Cubic ZnTiO₃ perovskites obtained at the calcination temperature of 700 °C, 10 mol% La-doped, and 5 mol% Zr-doped ZnTiO₃ revealed high crystallinity and rod-shaped morphology, being regarded as potential photocatalysts. Among candidates, 5 mol% Zr-doped ZnTiO₃ expressed much more significant improvement of photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline (up to 19.6%) than non-doped ZnTiO₃, ascribing to the change of the lattice structure, the existence of oxygen vacancies, and the decrease of electron–hole recombination rate. Graphical Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.].