A novel CeO2/Bi4Ti3O12 composite heterojunction structure with an enhanced photocatalytic activity for bisphenol A

A novel CeO2/Bi4Ti3O12 (C-BTO) composite photocatalysts of CeO2 nanoparticles was loaded on the exposed {001} facets Bi4Ti3O12 (BTO) sheets to form heterojunction structure. The synthesized process was achieved by molten salt method and ion-impregnation method. The as-prepared CeO2/Bi4Ti3O12 samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy and UVevis diffuse reflectance. To consider the pollutant issues, bisphenol A (BPA) was applied to investigate the photocatalytic activity of the CeO2/Bi4Ti3O12 composite photocatalysts under light irradiation. Our results show that 1 wt% CeO2/Bi4Ti3O12 composite exhibits the highest photocatalytic activity for the degradation of BPA. This is correlated to the function of heterostructured CeO2/Bi4Ti3O12 which has improved separation of the electron-hole pairs. The scavenger tests results indicate that the photo-generated h(+) would play an important role in the degradation of BPA. According to the experimental results, the possible photocatalytic degradation mechanism of CeO2/Bi4Ti3O12 was also investigated. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.