Effects of the Citric Acid Addition on the Morphology, Surface Area, and Photocatalytic Activity of LaFeO3 Nanoparticles Prepared by Glucose-Based Gel Combustion Methods

Abstract

In this paper, the synthesis of LaFeO3 based on the gel combustion method has been improved by using citric acid (CA) as a secondary chelating agent on glucose. The synthesized samples were calcined at 600 °C and further characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared, field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectrophotometry, N2 adsorption–desorption analyses, thermogravimetric analysis, and UV–vis–near-IR spectroscopy. The XRD data revealed that the pure orthorhombic perovskite phase LaFeO3 was obtained when CA was added on glucose. From FESEM and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller analysis, LaFeO3 synthesized using the addition of CA on glucose potentially showed well-uniform spherical particles and a high specific surface area of 40.77 m2/g with a particle size of 70 nm compared to glucose, which only showed 15.68 m2/g with a particle size of 100–300 nm. The photocatalytic activity of LaFeO3 was evaluated by the degradation...