Low temperature synthesis and photocatalytic property of perovskite-type LaCoO3 hollow spheres

• Hollow perovskite-type LaCoO3 is fabricated by green colloidal template method.
• Carbonaceous colloids acted as templates and offered internal heat source.
• The calcination temperature to form perovskite-type LaCoO3 was dropped to 550 °C.
• The photocatalytic properties were studied upon UV irradiation.
• Hollow perovskite-type LaCoO3 shows excellent photocatalytic activity on dyes.

Hollow perovskite-type LaCoO3 was successfully fabricated by surface-ion adsorption method utilizing the carbonaceous colloids as template under relatively low calcination temperature. Carbonaceous colloids not only acted as templates but also offered internal heat source during calcination process. The impact of calcined temperature and time on the structure and morphology of the product were studied and the possible formation process of perovskite-type LaCoO3 hollow spheres was illustrated. The obtained product was characterized by SEM, TEM, XRD, TG-DSC, ICP-OES, BET and UV–visible absorption spectra. The photocatalytic activities for degradation of methylene blue, methyl orange and neutral red were tested. The good photocatalytic degradation activity of the three different dyes and the band gap of 2.07 eV make it a promising candidate material for photocatalytic applications.