Abstract
The sol-gel method combined with the electrospinning technique were used to synthesize CeO2 nanofiber membranes and CeO2 fiber membranes doped with different contents of nano-silver. The thermal degradation behavior, phase structure, morphology, and optical and photocatalytic hydrogen production efficiency of CeO2 nanofiber membranes and CeO2 fiber membranes doped with different contents of nano-silver were studied. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results indicate that the increase of silver concentration can inhibit the formation of CeO2 crystal. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations show that in the prepared CeO2 with a diameter of about 100 nm and fiber membrane material doped with nano-silver, the fiber is made of a large number of accumulating grains. Analysis of optical properties found that the doped nano–silver CeO2 fiber membranes enhance the absorption of visible light and reduce the band gap of the material. Photocatalytic experiments show that the cerium dioxide nanofibers doped with nano-silver can greatly improve the photocatalytic performance of materials than that of pure CeO2. The Ag/CeO2 fiber membrane with the Ag/CeO2 molar ratio of 3:50 possesses the highest photocatalytic hydrogen production efficiency because of its high electron hole transfer and separation efficiency. This novel synthesis strategy can be used to prepare other broad band gap semiconductor oxides and enhance their photocatalytic activity.
Highlights
With the rapid development of the global economy, the demand for energy continues to grow, while the concern of greenhouse gas and aerosol emissions is increasing, the development of clean, renewable new energy has become the most urgent task for countries all over the world (Chen et al, 2020)
There are three methods to improve the photocatalytic activity of CeO2 photocatalysts (Gao et al, 2018; Malyukin et al, 2018; Mohammadiyan et al, 2018; Wen et al, 2018; Xing et al, 2020; Wang et al, 2021d; Mikheeva et al, 2021): 1) using special preparation methods to synthesize CeO2 photocatalysts with special defect structures, 2) combining other metal oxides with a small band gap value to construct special heterojunction structure composites to enhance their light response ability, and 3) a CeO2 photocatalyst was modified by noble metal particles to enhance the charge transfer and migration ability of the system, improving the photocatalytic activity of CeO2
CeO2 nanofiber membranes and CeO2 fiber membranes doped with different contents of nano-silver were prepared by the sol-gel method and electrospinning technique
Summary
With the rapid development of the global economy, the demand for energy continues to grow, while the concern of greenhouse gas and aerosol emissions is increasing, the development of clean, renewable new energy has become the most urgent task for countries all over the world (Chen et al, 2020). Cerium dioxide is a promising semiconductor photocatalyst, because it has the properties of n–type semiconductors such as good light–resistant corrosivity and excellent storage and release of oxygen, and its unique Ce3+/Ce4+ valence activity makes it highly oxidative and gives it a reducing ability (Mishra et al, 2018; Wen et al, 2018; Xing et al, 2020; Wang et al, 2021c; Wang et al, 2021d). The single component CeO2 photocatalyst has a large band gap and is difficult to respond to visible light, which greatly limits its application in the field of photocatalytic decomposition of water to produce hydrogen (Li et al, 2021). The preparation of cerium dioxide and noble metal particles-doped cerium dioxide by special technology and the study of their photocatalytic decomposition of water to produce hydrogen has important research significance
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