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Tuning the structural properties of CeO 2 by Pr and Fe codoping for enhanced visible‐light catalytic activity
Author(s) -
Wen Weijie,
Lou Zhencheng,
Chen Yanjin,
Chen Dingsheng,
Tian Shuanghong,
Xiong Ya
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of chemical technology and biotechnology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.64
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1097-4660
pISSN - 0268-2575
DOI - 10.1002/jctb.5923
Subject(s) - materials science , cerium , band gap , crystal structure , catalysis , visible spectrum , monoclinic crystal system , ion , vacancy defect , praseodymium , photocatalysis , valence (chemistry) , lattice constant , crystallography , analytical chemistry (journal) , chemistry , optics , optoelectronics , metallurgy , biochemistry , physics , organic chemistry , chromatography , diffraction
BACKGROUND Iron (Fe) 3+ has much a smaller ion radius than cerium (Ce) 4+ but praseodymium (Pr) ions have a similar radius to Ce ions with the same valence. Hence, it is interesting to tune the structural properties, including lattice deformation, band gap and oxygen vacancy (O v ), of CeO 2 by Pr and Fe codoping for enhanced visible‐light catalytic activity. RESULTS A series of Ce 1‐x‐y Pr x Fe y O 2‐σ ( x = 0∼0.012, y = 0.003∼0.031) nanoparticles were prepared by a simple one‐step sol‐gel method. The structural properties of CeO 2 , including crystal deformation (cell lattice from 5.4069 to 5.4195), band gap (from 2.20 to 2.93), oxygen vacancies (O v from 0.15% to 9.03%), and peroxide species (O 2 2− from 0.37% to 1.09%) can be finely tuned by Pr and Fe codoping. Among ten samples, Ce 0.982 Pr 0.003 Fe 0.015 O 2‐σ with proper structural properties showed the highest photocatalytic activity towards the degradation of acid orange 7. The first reaction rate constant reaches 0.0687 min −1 , 9.3 and 7.7 times that of Ce 0.994 Pr 0.006 O 2‐σ and Ce 0.985 Fe 0.015 O 2‐σ , respectively. The mechanism was found to involve ·OH, ·O 2 − and photogenerated holes. CONCLUSION The structural properties of CeO 2 can be finely and easily tuned by Pr and Fe codoping. Thus, the photocatalytic activity of CeO 2 under visible light irradiation was boosted. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry