Facile one-pot synthesis of porous Ln2Ti2O7 (Ln = Nd, Gd, Er) with photocatalytic degradation performance for methyl orange

Porous nanocrystalline Ln(2)Ti(2)O(7) (In = Nd, Gd, Er) was prepared by a facile self-propagating combustion method using metal nitrates (Ln(NO3)(3) (Ln = Nd, Gd, Er), TiO(NO3)(2)) and glydne. The photocatalytic activity of Ln(2)Ti(2)O(7) (In = Nd, Gd, Er) was evaluated by the photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange (MO). The results showed that the photocatalytic activity of Ln(2)Ti(2)O(7) (La = Gd, Er) with cubic pyrochlore structure was higher than that of Nd2Ti2O7 with monoclinic perovskite structure and Gd2Ti2O7 showed the best photocatalytic activity. The different photocatalytic activities observed for Ln(2)Ti(2)O(7) (La = Nd, Gd, Er) could be related to its different crystal structures and Ln 4f shells. (C) 2014 Published by Elsevier B.V.