Phosphorescent LaCO3OH core-satellite superstructures with highly efficient photocatalysis

Abstract

Luminescent lanthanum hydroxycarbonates (LaCO3OH) have received considerable attention because of their excellent photocatalytic activities. The luminescent properties of the LaCO3OH are closely related to their morphology and crystallization, but phosphorescent LaCO3OH has not yet been observed. Herein, the LaCO3OH core-satellite superstructures (LaCO3OH-CSSs), which consist of a porous structure as a core and urchin-like structures as the satellites, are prepared using a simple hydrothermal method. The proposed LaCO3OH-CSSs have strong solid-state luminescence and highly effective solution room-temperature phosphorescence with a lifetime of 163.5 ms. Combination with the advantages of both porous structure and slow charge recombination, the LaCO3OH-CSSs show superior photocatalytic activities, which can be used for highly efficient photodegradation of model rhodamine 6G (R6G) dyes. The R6G dyes can be completely degraded within 5 min under low-power white light (21 W) irradiation. The highly efficient photocatalytic activity suggests that phosphorescent LaCO3OH-CSSs can be well used for the treatment of water pollution.