Synthesis, characterization, and UV light-driven photocatalytic properties of CeVO4 nanoparticles synthesized by sol-gel method

CeVO4 as UV light-driven photocatalyst was synthesized by sol-gel method using tartaric acid as a complexing reagent with subsequent calcination at 450–600 °C for 2 h in ambient air. The as-synthesized products were characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and Raman spectroscopy. The precursor shows two weight loss steps due to the evaporation and decomposition of absorbed water, tartaric acid, and nitrate constituent until at a temperature above 450 °C. XRD patterns of the samples were indexed to tetragonal zircon-type CeVO4 structure. The degree of crystallinity and size of the CeVO4 sample were increased by the high growth rate of CeVO4 nanoparticles at high temperature calcination. Particle sizes of the products were 20–40 nm for CeVO4 with 450 °C calcination and 80–120 nm for CeVO4 with 500 °C calcination. The detection of V–O and Ce–O stretching modes indicates the formation of tetragonal zircon-type CeVO4 structure. The photocatalytic activity of the as-synthesized CeVO4 nanoparticles was evaluated via the degradation of methylene blue (MB) under UV light irradiation. In this research, CeVO4 with 450 °C calcination showed the highest photocatalytic activity of 94.58% within 120 min under UV light irradiation because of the highest available surface active sites for photodegradation of MB under UV light irradiation.