PREPARATION OF FLOWER SHAPED La/ZnO POWDERS VIA HYDROTHERMAL METHOD AND ITS PHOTOCATALYTIC PERFORMANCE.

The catalytic efficiency and stability of ZnO as photocatalytic still remains a considerable challenge due to the photocorrosion. New synthetic methods were invented, from metal ions doping to oxides mixing to improve it. However, most of the reported methods either suffered from low efficiency or difficult synthesis. We successfully synthesised flower shaped La/ZnO powders via simple hydrothermal method. The composites were characterised by XRD, TG-DSC, FTIRI, and SEM. It revealed that at a hydrothermal pH of 8, the optimum La doping concentration is 0.2%, herein the photodegradation of methyl orange (MO) increased from 70.19 to 91.43% in 2 h under 300 W UV-light in the air compared with bare ZnO. La/ZnO powders show advanced photocatalytic activity attributed to the La doping can enhance electron/ hole pairs separation and provide more surface hydroxyl groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]