Nd (Sm) Doped Ca Aluminate Nanoflakes as Efficient Photocatlytic Materials for Crystal Violet Degradation

Yuetong Chang; Zhao Chen; Weijia Xing; Hui Zhang; Zhengyu Cai; Lizhai Pei

doi:10.1002/crat.70124

Nd (Sm) Doped Ca Aluminate Nanoflakes as Efficient Photocatlytic Materials for Crystal Violet Degradation

Yuetong Chang
, Zhao Chen
, Weijia Xing
, Hui Zhang
, Zhengyu Cai^*
, Lizhai Pei^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

Abstract

A simple route was developed to synthesize Nd (Sm) doped Ca aluminate nanoflakes with polycrystalline structures. Different techniques were applied for analyzing the structure, morphology, optical, and photocatalytic properties of the Nd (Sm) doped Ca aluminate nanoflakes. Nd and Sm in the doped Ca aluminate nanoflakes exist in the form of hexagonal NdAl₁₁O₁₈ and tetragonal SmCaAl₃O₇ structures. Nd (Sm) dopants inhibit the growth of the Ca aluminate nanoflakes and induce the formation of the irregular nanoscale particles. Nd (Sm) doping obviously enhances the light absorption of the Ca aluminate nanoflakes and decreases the band gap. The band gap of 8 wt.% Nd (Sm) doped Ca aluminate nanoflakes decreases to 3.35 eV (Nd doping) and 3.34 eV (Sm doping), respectively. Photoluminescence spectra show that the Nd (Sm) doping inhibits the recombination of the photo-induced electron-hole pairs. Nd (Sm) doped Ca aluminate nanoflakes show enhanced catalytic activity towards crystal violet due to the enhanced ultraviolet light absorption ability, reduced band gap and recombination efficiency of the photo-induced electron-hole pairs. © 2026 Wiley-VCH GmbH.

Original language	English
Article number	e70124
Journal	Crystal Research and Technology
Volume	61
Issue number	6
Online published	15 Jun 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/crat.70124
Publication status	Published - Jun 2026

Funding

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of the Education Bureau of Anhui Province of P. R. China (2024AH050151). The authors acknowledge the support by the Natural Science Foundation of the Education Bureau of Anhui Province of P. R. China (2024AH050151).

Research Keywords

Ca aluminate nanoflakes
crystal violet
electron microscopy
Nd (Sm) doping
photocatalytic materials

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title = "Nd (Sm) Doped Ca Aluminate Nanoflakes as Efficient Photocatlytic Materials for Crystal Violet Degradation",

abstract = "A simple route was developed to synthesize Nd (Sm) doped Ca aluminate nanoflakes with polycrystalline structures. Different techniques were applied for analyzing the structure, morphology, optical, and photocatalytic properties of the Nd (Sm) doped Ca aluminate nanoflakes. Nd and Sm in the doped Ca aluminate nanoflakes exist in the form of hexagonal NdAl11O18 and tetragonal SmCaAl3O7 structures. Nd (Sm) dopants inhibit the growth of the Ca aluminate nanoflakes and induce the formation of the irregular nanoscale particles. Nd (Sm) doping obviously enhances the light absorption of the Ca aluminate nanoflakes and decreases the band gap. The band gap of 8 wt.\% Nd (Sm) doped Ca aluminate nanoflakes decreases to 3.35 eV (Nd doping) and 3.34 eV (Sm doping), respectively. Photoluminescence spectra show that the Nd (Sm) doping inhibits the recombination of the photo-induced electron-hole pairs. Nd (Sm) doped Ca aluminate nanoflakes show enhanced catalytic activity towards crystal violet due to the enhanced ultraviolet light absorption ability, reduced band gap and recombination efficiency of the photo-induced electron-hole pairs. {\textcopyright} 2026 Wiley-VCH GmbH.",

keywords = "Ca aluminate nanoflakes, crystal violet, electron microscopy, Nd (Sm) doping, photocatalytic materials",

author = "Yuetong Chang and Zhao Chen and Weijia Xing and Hui Zhang and Zhengyu Cai and Lizhai Pei",

year = "2026",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Nd (Sm) Doped Ca Aluminate Nanoflakes as Efficient Photocatlytic Materials for Crystal Violet Degradation

AU - Chang, Yuetong

AU - Chen, Zhao

AU - Xing, Weijia

AU - Zhang, Hui

AU - Cai, Zhengyu

AU - Pei, Lizhai

PY - 2026/6

Y1 - 2026/6

N2 - A simple route was developed to synthesize Nd (Sm) doped Ca aluminate nanoflakes with polycrystalline structures. Different techniques were applied for analyzing the structure, morphology, optical, and photocatalytic properties of the Nd (Sm) doped Ca aluminate nanoflakes. Nd and Sm in the doped Ca aluminate nanoflakes exist in the form of hexagonal NdAl11O18 and tetragonal SmCaAl3O7 structures. Nd (Sm) dopants inhibit the growth of the Ca aluminate nanoflakes and induce the formation of the irregular nanoscale particles. Nd (Sm) doping obviously enhances the light absorption of the Ca aluminate nanoflakes and decreases the band gap. The band gap of 8 wt.% Nd (Sm) doped Ca aluminate nanoflakes decreases to 3.35 eV (Nd doping) and 3.34 eV (Sm doping), respectively. Photoluminescence spectra show that the Nd (Sm) doping inhibits the recombination of the photo-induced electron-hole pairs. Nd (Sm) doped Ca aluminate nanoflakes show enhanced catalytic activity towards crystal violet due to the enhanced ultraviolet light absorption ability, reduced band gap and recombination efficiency of the photo-induced electron-hole pairs. © 2026 Wiley-VCH GmbH.

AB - A simple route was developed to synthesize Nd (Sm) doped Ca aluminate nanoflakes with polycrystalline structures. Different techniques were applied for analyzing the structure, morphology, optical, and photocatalytic properties of the Nd (Sm) doped Ca aluminate nanoflakes. Nd and Sm in the doped Ca aluminate nanoflakes exist in the form of hexagonal NdAl11O18 and tetragonal SmCaAl3O7 structures. Nd (Sm) dopants inhibit the growth of the Ca aluminate nanoflakes and induce the formation of the irregular nanoscale particles. Nd (Sm) doping obviously enhances the light absorption of the Ca aluminate nanoflakes and decreases the band gap. The band gap of 8 wt.% Nd (Sm) doped Ca aluminate nanoflakes decreases to 3.35 eV (Nd doping) and 3.34 eV (Sm doping), respectively. Photoluminescence spectra show that the Nd (Sm) doping inhibits the recombination of the photo-induced electron-hole pairs. Nd (Sm) doped Ca aluminate nanoflakes show enhanced catalytic activity towards crystal violet due to the enhanced ultraviolet light absorption ability, reduced band gap and recombination efficiency of the photo-induced electron-hole pairs. © 2026 Wiley-VCH GmbH.

KW - Ca aluminate nanoflakes

KW - crystal violet

KW - electron microscopy

KW - Nd (Sm) doping

KW - photocatalytic materials

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U2 - 10.1002/crat.70124

DO - 10.1002/crat.70124

M3 - RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal

SN - 0232-1300

VL - 61

JO - Crystal Research and Technology

JF - Crystal Research and Technology

IS - 6

M1 - e70124

ER -

Nd (Sm) Doped Ca Aluminate Nanoflakes as Efficient Photocatlytic Materials for Crystal Violet Degradation

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