Hydrothermal synthesis and characterization of Lanthanum-doped NaTaO3 with high photocatalytic activity

Lanthanum-doped NaTaO3 (NaTaO3:La) nanocrystals have been synthesized by a hydrothermal method. X-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), transmission electron microcopy (TEM), inductive coupled plasma atomic absorption spectrometric analysis, volumetric adsorption method (BET) and UV-vis spectroscopy were used to characterize the samples. The NaTaO3:La nanocubes show a higher photocatalytic activity than that of the pure NaTaO3 in the degradation of the safranine T dye under UV irradiation. The highest photocatalytic activity was achieved when 2 mol% lanthanum was doped. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.