Sonochemical synthesis, characterization and photodegradation of organic pollutant over Nd2O3 nanostructures prepared via a new simple route

For the first time, a new simple route of synthesizing Nd2O3 nanostructures has been developed with applying the sonochemical process. As a novel precipitator, 2,2-dimethy1-1,3-propanediamine was applied in the presence of Nd(NO3)(3).6H(2)O to prepare neodymium oxide. In order to control the shape, size and photocatalytic activity of neodymium oxide products, the type of capping agents have been altered. The synthesized nanostructured neodymium oxide has been characterized with the aid of DRS, Fr-IR, XRD, TEM, FESEM and EDX. It was demonstrated that shape, size and photocatalytic activity of the sonochemically fabricated neodymium oxide were under the influence of the type of capping agent. The photocatalytic decomposition of eosin Y pollutant has been performed to compare the photocatalytic efficiencies of neodymium oxide nano and bulk structures under ultraviolet illumination. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.