Synthesis and thermal annealing of plumbonacrite layers deposited by chemical bath technique

Abstract

At this research, we analyzed the structural evolution, as well as the surface morphology changes, produced by thermal annealing on plumbonacrite layers obtained by the chemical bath deposition technique. For that, several replicas of chemically deposited plumbonacrite layers were thermal annealed in open-air atmosphere at the temperatures of 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 °C, always for 30 min. The as-grown and thermal annealed plumbonacrite samples were studied by X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy to identify the crystalline phases induced by the thermal annealing, beginning from hexagonal plumbonacrite, presenting modifications until convert into hydrocerussite, and finally at 500 °C, it is obtained a mixture of phases containing lead oxides. Scanning Electronic Microscopy images showed the evolution of the surface morphology. The results show that plumbonacrite transforms into hydrocerussite at an annealing temperature of 300−400 °C and to a combination of lead carbonate at 500 °C.