Constructing and Photocatalytic Performance of Flower-like CeO2/TiO2 Heterostructures

A kind of three-dimensional flower-like CeO2/TiO2 heterojunction as photocatalysts was designed by the solvothermal method. The photocatalytic activity was evaluated by the decomposition of methyl orange (MO) under xenon lamp irradiation. The results showed that the flower-like structure was composed of thin nanosheets, on which many CeO2 particles were uniformly attached. The molar ratio of Ce to Ti (n(Ce)/n(Ti)) and the solvothermal time influenced on the photocatalytic performance. When n(Ce)/n(Ti)=0.1 and the solvothermal time was 6 h, the photocatalytic activity of CeO2/TiO2 reached the best, and the degradation rate reached 95% under xenon lamp irradiation for 50 min. The results suggested that the photocatalytic activity of CeO2/TiO2 heterojunction was greatly improved, compared to TiO2, which was mainly the function of heterojunction formed by CeO2 and TiO2, and was conducive to the separation of photogenerated electrons and holes.