Abstract
In this study, facile construction engineering of Pr(6)O(11)@C with efficient photocatalytic activity was established. Taking advantage of the flocculation of Pr(3+) in the base medium, acid red 14 (AR14) was flocculated together with Pr(OH)(3) precipitate, in which Pr(OH)(3) and AR14 mixed highly uniformly. Calcinated at high temperature in N2, a novel Pr(6)O(11)@C was successfully synthesized. The resulting materials were characterized by XRD, SEM, FT-IR, Raman, and XPS techniques. The results show that the cubic Pr(6)O(11)@C with Fm3m space group, similar to that of Pr(6)O(11), was obtained. From the results of the photodegradation of AR14, it is found that the photocatalytic efficiency of Pr(6)O(11)@C is higher than that of pure Pr(6)O(11) due to the formation of abundant carbon bonds and oxygen vacancies. Compared with pure Pr(6)O(11) and other carbon-based composites, the acid resistance of Pr(6)O(11)@C is greatly improved due to the highly uniform dispersion of Pr(6)O(11) and C, which lays a solid foundation for the practical application of Pr(6)O(11)@C. Moreover, the role of NH3·H(2)O and NaOH used as precipitants for the photocatalytic efficiency of Pr(6)O(11) was investigated in detail.