Ce doping TiO2/halloysite nanotubes photocatalyst for enhanced electrons transfer and photocatalytic degradation of Tetracycline

• Published in: Journal of materials science. Materials in electronics 2019-11, Vol.30 (21), p.19126-19136
• Main Authors: Wang, Huiqin, Wu, Dongyao, Li, Xin, Huo, Pengwei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Catalytic activity; Cerium; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Crystal structure; Doping; Light irradiation; Materials Science; Morphology; Nanoparticles; Nanotubes; Optical and Electronic Materials; Oxidation; Photocatalysis; Photocatalysts; Photodegradation; Porosity; Titanium dioxide; X ray photoelectron spectroscopy
• ISSN: 0957-4522; 1573-482X
• DOI: 10.1007/s10854-019-02268-y

The Ce doping TiO 2 /halloysite nanotubes photocatalyst (Ce-TiO 2 /HNTs) was prepared for enhanced photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline (TC). The crystal structure, morphology and photoelectrochemical (PEC) properties have been researched by XRD, TEM, UV–vis DRS and other characterized technologies. The TEM results showed that the Ce-TiO 2 nanoparticles were evenly dispersed on the surface of HNTs with about 5 nm pore structure. The UV–vis DRS results showed that the doping of Ce effectively broadened the photo-absorption capacity of the pure TiO 2 . The PEC results confirmed that the doping of Ce decreased the electrochemical impedance of the photogenerated carrier in the transfer process and greatly improved the photogenerated efficiency of the electron within the TiO 2 NPs. The XPS analysis showed that Ce co-existed in the form of Ce 3+ and Ce 4+ oxidation states in the Ce-TiO 2 /HNTs. The photodegradation experiments showed that Ce-TiO 2 /HNTs exhibited the enhanced photocatalytic activity under the visible-light irradiation compared with the pure TiO 2 NPs.