Preparation of dysprosium carbonate and dysprosium oxide efficient photocatalyst nanoparticles through direct carbonation and precursor thermal decomposition

Abstract

Dysprosium carbonate nanoparticles were prepared through a direct precipitation method using Dy(NO3)3 and Na2CO3 as a facile, well-regulated and cost-effective technique for the production insoluble salts. Due to the importance of improving the capability and quality of a process for adjusting the size of the product particles the optimal precipitation reaction parameters were evaluated through the Taguchi method. The reaction conditions like the concentrations of the reacting species, the rate of the addition of the reagent as well as the reactor temperature were also optimized based on an orthogonal array design. It was concluded from the results that dysprosium carbonate nanoparticles can be synthesized through the direct carbonation process by controlling the concentration of carbonate ion, the rate of its addition to the reactor and the reaction temperature. Further, a one-step thermal decomposition method was used for the efficient conversion of dysprosium carbonate to dysprosium oxide nanoparticles. The characterization of the products was carried out through XRD, SEM, TEM, FT-IR and thermal analysis techniques. Furthermore, the as-synthesized dysprosium carbonate and dysprosium oxide nanoparticles were used as photocatalyst for the photocatalytic degradation of methylene orange under ultraviolet light.