Hydrothermal synthesis and characterization of hierarchically nanostructured La2(MoO4)3

• La2(MoO4)3 with the hierarchical nanostructure consisted of nanosheets.
• The hydrothermal method was applied to the synthesis of La2(MoO4)3.
• Potassium sodium tartrate was used as the additive.
• Influences of heating times on the products were also investigated.

In this study, we report a hydrothermal method for the preparation of La2(MoO4)3 with a hierarchical nanostructure consisted of nanosheets. The influences of heating times on the products were also investigated. The products were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The potassium sodium tartrate plays a key role in the formation of hierarchical nanostructures. The potassium sodium tartrate was used as a chelating ligand and a template molecule in the synthesis and self-assembly of nanosheets. In view of experimental results, a possible formation mechanism of these hierarchical nanostructures in the growth processes was proposed. This synthetic strategy was also successfully applied to fabricate KNd(MoO4)2 with the hierarchical nanostructure.