Lanthanum ions-induced synthesis of ZnO nanostructures from zinc foil: Morphology change and photocatalytic activity

High-density aligned ZnO nanorod array film was synthesised by hydrothermal oxidation of zinc foil in a mixture including n-butylamine and lanthanum nitrate aqueous solution. The shape of ZnO nanostructure was strongly associated with the amount of lanthanum ions, which provided a valuable way to control the rate of nucleation and growth of ZnO. HRTEM, XRD and XPS analysis confirmed that the La3+ had been doped into ZnO lattice, which led to the red shift of the absorption edges and the decrease of PL intensity. The photocatalytic studies showed that the ZnO nanorod array film exhibited superior photocatalysis for the degradation of both methyl orange and methylene blue solutions due to its exposed crystal plane, density and the defects on the surface.