Photocatalytic degradation of organic dyes under visible light irradiation by floral-like LaFeO3 nanostructures comprised of nanosheet petals

Autor(es)

Thirumalairajan, Subramaniam ^{[1, 2]} ; Girija, Kesavan ^{[2, 3]} ; Mastelaro, Valmor Roberto ^[1] ; Ponpandian, Nagamony ^[2]

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, IFSC, BR-13560970 Sao Carlos, SP - Brazil

^[2] Bharathiar Univ, Dept Nanosci & Technol, Coimbatore 641046, Tamil Nadu - India

^[3] Dr NGP Inst Technol, Dept Sci & Humanities, Coimbatore 641048, Tamil Nadu - India

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: NEW JOURNAL OF CHEMISTRY; v. 38, n. 11, p. 5480-5490, 2014.
• Citações Web of Science: 43

Resumo

A facile and cost-effective surfactant assisted hydrothermal technique was used to prepare functional floral-like LaFeO3 nanostructures comprised of nanosheets via a self-assembly process. Scanning electron microscopy images revealed the floral structure of LaFeO3 comprising of nanosheet petals. The petals of similar to 15 nm thickness and similar to 70-80 nm length observed from transmission electron microscopy self-assembled to form floral structures. X-ray powder diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and thermal analysis techniques were utilized to determine the structural information and thermal stability. The structural characterization revealed the orthorhombic phase of the prepared LaFeO3 product with high purity even at a high temperature of 800 degrees C. The growth mechanism of LaFeO3 floral nanostructures has been proposed and the band gap energy was estimated to be 2.10 eV using UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller specific surface area was found to be 90.25 m(2) g(-1). The visible light photocatalytic activities of LaFeO3 floral nanostructures exhibited higher photocatalytic efficiency compared to the bulk LaFeO3 samples for the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) and methylene blue (MB). The degradation of MB was higher than RhB. The photocatalytic mechanism for the degradation of organic dye has also been proposed. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 13/19049-0 - Síntese e caracterização do composto CuAlO2 nanoestruturado: uma investigação sistemática da dependência da sensibilidade a diferentes tipos de gases em função da morfologia
• Beneficiário: Thirumalairajan Subramaniam
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Pós-Doutorado