Phosphorescent LaCO₃OH core-satellite superstructures with highly efficient photocatalysis

Luminescent lanthanum hydroxycarbonates (LaCO₃OH) have received considerable attention because of their excellent photocatalytic activities. The luminescent properties of the LaCO₃OH are closely related to their morphology and crystallization, but phosphorescent LaCO₃OH has not yet been observed. Herein, the LaCO₃OH core-satellite superstructures (LaCO₃OH-CSSs), which consist of a porous structure as a core and urchin-like structures as the satellites, are prepared using a simple hydrothermal method. The proposed LaCO₃OH-CSSs have strong solid-state luminescence and highly effective solution room-temperature phosphorescence with a lifetime of 163.5 ms. Combination with the advantages of both porous structure and slow charge recombination, the LaCO₃OH-CSSs show superior photocatalytic activities, which can be used for highly efficient photodegradation of model rhodamine 6G (R6G) dyes. The R6G dyes can be completely degraded within 5 min under low-power white light (21 W) irradiation. The highly efficient photocatalytic activity suggests that phosphorescent LaCO₃OH-CSSs can be well used for the treatment of water pollution.