Photocatalytic synthesized low content CeO₂-modified rutile heterojunction photocatalysts with enhanced wastewater treatment and H₂ evolution performances

Abstract

High performance composite photocatalyst is a hotspot in the photocatalysis researches. In this study, a cutting-edge CeO₂/rutile composite photocatalyst with tiny CeO₂ concentration of 1.28 wt% was synthesized via a simple photocatalytic method. This as-obtained CeO₂/rutile catalyst (CeO₂/TiO₂-1:1) exhibited an enhanced wastewater degradation and improved water splitting H₂ evolution ability, with 95.83 % removal ratio for methylene blue (MB), 72.84% for tetracycline (TC) and 87.57 µmol/g H₂ evolution capacity. Light irradiation and 2-coordinated oxygen vacancies (OV_2C) on rutile surface promoted the Ce³⁺ adsorption on the rutile (110) facet as DFT results shown. The CeO₂/rutile type-II heterojunction was evidenced to promote the migration of e⁻/h⁺ and generation of ·OH/·O₂⁻ and H₂, which rapidly boosted the whole photocatalytic performance. This as-prepared CeO₂/TiO₂ photocatalyst can provide useful inspirations and new thoughts about the photosynthesis process, and offer a novel strategy for heterojunction photocatalysts preparation.

Keywords

photocatalytic synthesis / type-II heterojunction / CeO₂/TiO₂ composite / H₂ evolution / wastewater treatment

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