Synthesis and characterization of CeO2/TiO2 nanotube arrays and enhanced photocatalytic oxidative desulfurization performance

Abstract

Well-aligned CeO2/TiO2 nanotube arrays photocatalyst was successfully prepared by anodization and microwave homogeneous synthesis technique. The nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction(XRD), Raman spectroscopy(RS), scanning electron microscopy(SEM), energy-dispersive spectrometry(EDS), transmission electron microscopy(TEM), UV–vis diffuse reflection spectroscopy (DRS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), photocurrent-time measurements, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS). The TiO2 nanotube arrays showed enhanced optical properties with significant red shift after the introduction of CeO2 nanoparticles. Photocatalytic activities of the prepared samples were examined by the photocatalytic oxidation of benzothiphene (BT) under visible light irradiation. The CeO2/TiO2 nanotube arrays photocatalyst showed higher photocatalytic activity than that of TiO2 nanotube arrays. It was found that more than 90% of sulfur compounds in model oil were photocatalytic oxidized and removed by using CeO2/TiO2 nanotube arrays as photocatalyst.