Fabrication of perovskite lanthanum orthoferrite as a photocatalyst for controlled atom transfer radical polymerization of methacrylate monomers toward an electrolyte material for lead acid batteries

Huong Thi Le^{1, 2}, Tien Anh Nguyen², Thu Hoang Vo¹, Michał Michalak³, Tam Hoang Luu⁴, Ha Tran Nguyen^1,4*

¹National Key Laboratory of Polymer and Composite Materials,

University of Technology, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

²Faculty of Chemistry, Ho Chi Minh city University of Education, Vietnam

³Centre of Polymer and Carbon Materials, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland

⁴Faculty of Materials Technology, University of Technology,

Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

Received 10 January 2020; accepted 8 April 2020

 

Abstract:

Lanthanum orthoferrite (LaFeO₃) photocatalysts were synthesized by a facile and cost-effective co-precipitation method via the hydrolysis of La (III) and Fe (III). The characteristics of LaFeO₃ were investigated through thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). During the investigation of the applicability of LaFeO₃ as a photocatalyst for the atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of methyl methacrylate monomer under UV irradiation, the obtained poly(methyl methacrylate) exhibited a high molecular weight and narrow polydispersity index. In addition, the LaFeO₃ can be recovered via application of a magnetic field and reused for the atom transfer radical polymerization process.

Keywords: ATRP, lanthanum orthoferrite (LaFeO₃), methacrylate, photocatalysts.

Classification number: 2.2