A facile one-pot flash combustion synthesis of La@ZnO nanoparticles and their characterizations for optoelectronic and photocatalysis applications

The successful one pot flash combustion synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) with a diverse LA (La@ZnO) content was achieved simply and economically. X-ray diffraction confirms the synthesis of ZnO with a hexagonal crystal system. The vibrational bands are positioned at 100, 332, 380, 438 and 583 cm(-1) for pure and La@ZnO NPs. FESEM images exhibit roughly spherical and oval morphologies of pure ZnO with particles size 120 nm and La@ZnO NPs with particle sizes in the 46-74 nm range. The particle size of a La doped ZnO sample increases with increase in concentration from 1.0 % to 7.5 wt.% of La. The evaluated energy gap of La doped ZnO NPs decreased from 3.220 to 3.210 eV as the concentration of La varied from 1.0-7.5 wt.% as estimated by Kubelka-Munk theory. The photocatalytic analysis of the as-synthesized ZnO nanoparticles is maximized at La (1.0 wt.%) and the mechanism of photocatalytic decolourization reaction is discussed. The results suggest that the La-doped ZnO nanoparticles can be used in optoelectronic and photocatalytic applications.