Wet-chemical synthesis of ZnO/CdO/CeO2 heterostructure: A novel material for environmental remediation application

Abstract

With the progressively increasing demand for tackling environmental pollution problems, highly efficient photocatalytic materials with greater charge carrier's separation aptitude and transfer efficiency have attracted significant research attention. Herein, a new ZnO/CdO/CeO2 (ZCC) nanocomposite, blending the merits of three highly ordered-structure and synergetic effects resulting from the heterojunction formation, was synthesized as an excellent sunlight-driven photocatalyst by using a wet-chemical technique. The PXRD, FTIR, and UV–Vis characterization methods, as well as the well-diffusion method, were used in order to investigate the structural, photocatalytic, and antibacterial capabilities of the ZCC photocatalyst, respectively. According to the findings of the characterization, the three phases of ZnO, CdO, and CeO2 were effectively mixed to produce a heterostructured ZCC nanocomposite. The formation of a heterojunction between ZnO, CdO, and CeO2 equivalents provides good suppression of the rapid recombination of photo-generated charges. This results in improvements to photocatalytic activities as well as antibacterial capabilities. Under the influence of solar irradiation, the photocatalysis of ZnO, CdO, and CeO2 nanocomposite with a molar ratio of 1:1:1 obtained the highest degradation rate of 0.041 min−1 for Rhodamine B (RhB). In addition to this, ZCC nanocomposite effectively reduces the concentration of germs such as E. coli and S. aureus. The leading reactive species participating in the dye disintegration and germ disinfection were •OH and •O2‾ over ZCC photocatalyst under solar irradiation. These results show that ZCC nanocomposite is a good catalyst, which means it could be used to solve some of the most difficult problems by combining it with harmful pollutants and antimicrobials.