Styrene-doped ZrLaOy nanostructures were obtained by sol–gel method low-temperature synthesis. The nanostructures were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), atomic force microscope (AFM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. The observation using SEM and TEM revealed that the ring-shaped nanostructures were very uniform. Further characterization using XRD disclosed that the cohesion of the samples was controllable with annealing temperatures in the range of 800–1500◦C. Cohesion property was investigated for the samples. The cohesion increased when increasing the annealing temperature. This was linked to the reinforcement of the oxygen bound on the ZrLaOy nanostructures The shape of nanostructures showed a transformation from a ring-shaped growth mode to a hole-surfaced growth mode with increasing annealing temperature. The styrene-doped ZrLaOy nanostructures with controllable crystallinity will have great potential for various applications in fuel, cells, batteries, electronics devices and chemical sensors.
