Preparation of nanocrystalline praseodymium oxide with different shapes via a simple thermal decomposition route

چکیده مقاله

Present report describes the surfactant-free synthesis and characterization of nanocrystalline praseodymium oxide. For this purpose, praseodymium source ([PrL(NO3)2]NO3 (L = (N,N0-bis(20-hydroxyacetophenonimine)- o-dipropylene triamin) was prepared and its thermal decomposition was performed in at various temperatures in the 300–800 C. Results of this investigation demonstrate that praseodymium oxide with very uniform sphere-like shape, small grain size and pure cubic phase could be synthesized by thermal decomposition of the obtained praseodymium source at 600 C. FESEM, FT-IR, TGA, XRD, TEM, EDX, PL and UV–Vis were applied to study the formation of as-prepared nanoparticles and their structure, shape, elemental composition and optical characteristics. Moreover, the photocatalytic characteristics of as-synthesized praseodymium oxide were examined by photodegradation of b-naphthol under UV light illumination.