Structural, optical, morphological and charge transfer properties of CeO2/MWCNTs nanocomposite and their photocatalytic activity of organic dye degradation

In the present work, the CeO2/MWCNTs nanocomposite was prepared by a one-step hydrothermal method. The composite formation, phase purity, crystal structure, vibrational modes, morphological, size, chemical state, and optical properties of the CeO2/MWCNTs nanocomposite were investigated using various analytical techniques (XRD, FT-IR, FE-SEM, TEM, XPS, UV-DRS and PL). The degradation of aqueous Methylene Blue (MB) and Rhodamine B (RhB) as model dyes under UV-visible light irradiation was used to assess the photocatalytic degradation efficiency of synthesized materials. CeO2/MWCNTs nanocomposite were shown to have a better photocatalytic degradation efficiency than pure CeO2. The excellent dye degradation behavior of CeO2/MWCNTs nanocomposite, a redshift in light absorption and prevention of photo-excited electron-hole pair recombination rate are all factors that contribute to photocatalytic dye degradation efficiency. The efficiency of photocatalytic dye degradation, photocurrent response and possible photocatalytic mechanisms were addressed. Furthermore, the catalyst stability was demonstrated over several dye treatment cycles.

Automated summary

In this study, the CeO2/MWCNTs nanocomposite was successfully prepared through a one-step hydrothermal method, and its properties were thoroughly investigated. The results showed that the CeO2/MWCNTs nanocomposite exhibited excellent photocatalytic degradation efficiency for dyes and remained stable over multiple treatment cycles.