Cerium’s Photocatalytic Superpower: Unlocking Titanium Dioxide’s Visible Light Absorption
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- 28 Apr 2023
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Visible Light Absorption of Titanium Dioxide Through Cerium Synchronous Doping in Anatase
The introduction of rare earth elements into TiO2 can effectively improve the electron-hole separation of TiO2 and prolong the visible light response of TiO2.
Cerium (Ce) shows variable valence states Ce3+/Ce4+ with different electronic structures (4f15d0 and 4f05d0, respectively) among rare earth elements, which easily form oxygen vacancies. Ce element with unique electronic structure can be used to modify semiconductor photocatalysts to improve their photocatalytic performance.
In a study published in the journal Molecule, the research group led by Prof. LU Canzhong from Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, reported the visible light absorption of Ce/TiO2.
The researchers achieved simultaneous doping of Ce in the TiO2 lattice using a simple sol-gel method which achieved Ce synchronous doping in the lattice of TiO2. They observed morphology and structure of the pure TiO2, Ce-doped TiO2 (Ce/TiO2), and CeO2-mixed TiO2 (CeO2-TiO2) samples by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). They found that Ce doping in the lattice of anatase TiO2 resulted in a smaller grain size of the sample. Read More…
