Photocatalytic degradation of organic dyes under visible light irradiation by floral-like LaFeO3 nanostructures comprised of nanosheet petals

Abstract

A facile and cost-effective surfactant assisted hydrothermal technique was used to prepare functional floral-like LaFeO₃ nanostructures comprised of nanosheets via a self-assembly process. Scanning electron microscopy images revealed the floral structure of LaFeO₃ comprising of nanosheet petals. The petals of ∼15 nm thickness and ∼70–80 nm length observed from transmission electron microscopy self-assembled to form floral structures. X-ray powder diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and thermal analysis techniques were utilized to determine the structural information and thermal stability. The structural characterization revealed the orthorhombic phase of the prepared LaFeO₃ product with high purity even at a high temperature of 800 °C. The growth mechanism of LaFeO₃ floral nanostructures has been proposed and the band gap energy was estimated to be 2.10 eV using UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The Brunauer–Emmett–Teller specific surface area was found to be 90.25 m² g⁻¹. The visible light photocatalytic activities of LaFeO₃ floral nanostructures exhibited higher photocatalytic efficiency compared to the bulk LaFeO₃ samples for the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) and methylene blue (MB). The degradation of MB was higher than RhB. The photocatalytic mechanism for the degradation of organic dye has also been proposed.