Synthesis and characterization of novel samarium-doped CuAl2O4 and its photocatalytic performance through the modified sol–gel method

چکیده مقاله

A novel samarium-doped cubic phase of copper aluminate nanoparticles (Sm/CuAl2O4) were successfully synthesized by modify sol–gel method with the aid of copper(II) nitrate trihydrate, aluminum nitrate nonahydrate, samarium nitrate hexahydrate, and sucrose without adding external surfactant, capping agent or template. Besides, the effect of the dosage of sucrose on the particle size of final product was investigated. Sucrose plays role as capping agent, reducing agent, and chelating agent in the synthesis CuAl2O4 nanoparticles. The photocatalytic activities of CuAl2O4 catalysts were studied for the mineralization of methyl orange under visible light. Furthermore, samarium was doped to obtain improvement in photocatalytic activity of CuAl2O4. The copper aluminate nanoparticles were characterized by using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and EDX.