La10Si6O27:Tb 3+ nanomaterial; its photocatalytic and electrochemical sensor activities on Disperse Orange and Fast Blue dyes

Abstract

For the first time, Tb3+ ions were successfully doped into La10Si6O27 by using low temperature initiate solution combustion method. The resulting Tb3+ doped lanthanum nanophosphors (LNPs) were characterized by PXRD, FTIR, TEM and UV-DRS techniques. The PXRD patterns of calcined sample show a pure hexagonal oxy apatite phase. The crystallite size was found to be within a range of 25–40 nm and it is matched with TEM results. The energy band gap (Eg) was found to vary from 5.64 eV to 5.77 eV. The photocatalytic degradation of Disperse Orange (DO) and Fast Blue (FB) dyes by La10Si6O27:Tb3+ was tested under the irradiation of UV light. La10Si6O27: Tb3+ NPs showed enhanced degradation for Disperse orange and Fast blue dyes under UV light. La10Si6O27:Tb3+ (5 mol %) electrode exhibited reversible electrode reaction with low charge transfer resistance and high capacitance value. All the above findings confirm that the synthesized LNPs is a potential candidate for waste water treatment and sensor applications.