Deposition of Nd-Doped Fe2O3 Nanoparticles on Cenosphere by Hydrothermal Method

A layer of flake-like Fe2O3 particles doped with rare earth Nd3+ ions is homogeneously coated on the surface of cenosphere by using ferric nitrate as the iron source, tartaric acid as the precipitating agent, hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide as the dispersing agent and neodymium nitrate as the dopant via a facile hydrothermal route. The as-prepared cenosphere is characterized by various analytical techniques such as field emission scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, vibrating sample magnetometry, thermal gravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The performances of photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue dye are also investigated under ultraviolet and visible light irradiations. The experimental results indicate that the doping concentration of Nd3+ ions is optimized as 0.4% with respect to Fe3+ ions, and the rare earth Nd3+ ions are highly dispersed onto Fe2O3 particle surface. After being doped with Nd3+ ions, the photoactivity of the 0.4% Nd-doped Fe2O3 coated cenosphere is distinctly improved. The magnetic properties are also enhanced to a large extent.