Preparation and characterization of pyrochlore La2Zr2O7 nanocrystals by stearic acid method

Abstract Pyrochlore La2Zr2O7 nanocrystals with cubic structure were prepared by stearic acid combustion method using zirconium nitrate and lanthanum nitrate as raw materials, stearic acid as solvent and dispersant. The La2Zr2O7 was characterized by XRD, Raman, FT-IR, BET, TEM, HRTEM and Emission/excitation spectra. The effect of thermal treatment temperature on crystal size of the nanocrystals was studied and a single phase of La2Zr2O7 was completely formed at 900 °C. The interplanar distances of d222 and d400 measured from the TEM images were 0.322 nm and 0.263 nm, respectively, coinciding with the theoretical values. Moreover, the strong fluorescent property of the La2Zr2O7 was measured, with the maximum emission peak at ca. 389 nm upon excitation at ca. 324 nm.