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

N-doped CeO2 microspheres were fabricated by a one-step low temperature (180 degrees C) solvothermal route from Ce(NO3)(3) center dot 6H(2)O, 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, N-2 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 (lambda > 420 nm) 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. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.