Synthesis, characterization and photocatalytic activity of the lanthanum barium copper oxide nanoparticles in presence of stearic acid as solvent and stabilizer agent

Abstract

Pure La1.8Ba0.2CuO4 nanoparticles were prepared via sol–gel process using lanthanum acetate, barium acetate and copper acetate, respectively as La, Ba and Cu sources. Also stearic acid was used as complexing-reagent to obtain nanosized products. The prepared La1.8Ba0.2CuO4 nanoparticles were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The results indicated that La1.8Ba0.2CuO4 nanoparticles with particle size range between 28 and 67 nm and surface area of 7.07 m2 g−1 could be obtained after calcination of the dried gel at 800 °C for 4 h. The obtained La1.8Ba0.2CuO4 nanoparticles showed a direct band gap value of 1.1 eV. In the photocatalytic characterization section, rhodamine B degraded by the catalyst under visible irradiation. The results showed that La1.8Ba0.2CuO4 nanoparticles have the acceptable photocatalytic activity.