Ce doping TiO_2/halloysite nanotubes photocatalyst for enhanced electrons transfer and photocatalytic degradation of Tetracycline

摘要

The Ce doping TiO2/halloysite nanotubes photocatalyst (Ce-TiO2/HNTs) was prepared for enhanced photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline (TC). The crystal structure, morphology and photoelectrochemical (PEC) properties have been researched by XRD, TEM, UV-vis DRS and other characterized technologies. The TEM results showed that the Ce-TiO2 nanoparticles were evenly dispersed on the surface of HNTs with about 5 nm pore structure. The UV-vis DRS results showed that the doping of Ce effectively broadened the photo-absorption capacity of the pure TiO2. The PEC results confirmed that the doping of Ce decreased the electrochemical impedance of the photogenerated carrier in the transfer process and greatly improved the photogenerated efficiency of the electron within the TiO2 NPs. The XPS analysis showed that Ce co-existed in the form of Ce3+ and Ce4+ oxidation states in the Ce-TiO2/HNTs. The photodegradation experiments showed that Ce-TiO2/HNTs exhibited the enhanced photocatalytic activity under the visible-light irradiation compared with the pure TiO2 NPs.