Novel poly(ethyleneglycol)-assisted synthesis of praseodymium oxide nanostructures via a facile precipitation route

The effect of the polymeric capping agent on the morphology and size of praseodymium oxide precipitated from praseodymium nitrate in the presence of ethylenediamine (en) as precipitator was investigated. En was used as precipitator to fabricate praseodymium oxide nanostructures for the first time. The products have been successfully synthesized in the presence of poly ethylene glycol (PEG) as capping agent via an improved precipitation route. The effect of amount of en on the morphology and size of praseodymium oxide was investigated. It was found that morphology and size of the products could be greatly affected by this parameter. The as-produced nanostructures were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) spectroscopy, photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDX). To investigate the catalytic properties of praseodymium oxide nanostructures, the photocatalytic degradation of 2-naphthol was performed.