Solvothermal synthesis of N-doped CeO2 microspheres with visible light-driven photocatalytic activity

Abstract

N-doped CeO2 microspheres were fabricated by a one-step low temperature (180°C) solvothermal route from Ce(NO3)3·6H2O, HNO3, and ethanol, utilizing HNO3 as the nitrogen source. The structure, composition, BET specific surface area and optical properties of N-doped CeO2 sample were characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence, field emission scanning electron microscopy, N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms, and UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The photocatalytic results demonstrated that as-synthesized N-doped CeO2 microspheres possessed much higher photocatalytic activity than that of pure CeO2 in the photocatalytic activity of aqueous rhodamine 6G under visible light (λ>420nm) irradiation. Moreover, the photocatalytic results indicated that the as-synthesized N-doped CeO2 was a kind of promising photocatalyst in remediation of water polluted by some chemically stable azo dyes under visible light irradiation.