Analysis of impact of hydrothermal treatment duration on physico-chemical properties of products of yttrium chloride hydrolysis

Synthesis of novel materials on the basis of rare-earth elements and yttrium attracts much attention due to their unique properties. In this work the impact of hydrothermal treatment duration on physico-chemical and photocatalytic properties of products of yttrium chloride hydrolysis was investigated. Morphological features of materials were studied by the means of scanning electron microscopy. Elemental composition was determined with EDX analysis. Specific surface area was evaluated by the means low temperature nitrogen adsorption. Photocatalytic activity of synthesized materials was studied in photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange dye. It was found that increased duration of hydrothermal treatment causes formation of structures with homogeneous composition. Materials that were hydrothermally treated during 72 hours have few Lewis acid sites on its surface. This feature leads to the highest photocatalytic activity in methyl orange degradation. It may be concluded, that abovementioned materials fit well for the application as photocatalysts.