Structure and photocatalytic oxidation desulfurization performance of CeO2/HTi2NbO7-NS nanocomposite

CeO2/HTi2NbO7-NS nanocomposite based on HTi2NbO7 nanosheet (HTi2NbO7 -NPs) and Cerium dioxide nanoparticles (CeO2-NPs) was fabricated through an exfoliation-restructuring method. The as-prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), laser Raman Spectroscopy (LRS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV-vis diffuse reflection spectroscopy (UV-Vis DRS) and N-2 adsorption-desorption measurements. The adsorption and photocatalytic properties of the as-prepared samples were evaluated using ethyl mercaptan (EM) in methane gas as the model pollutant. The results indicated that CeO2-NPs were uniformly distributed on the surface of HTi2NbO7-NS and the band gap energy of CeO2 /HTi2NbO7-NS nanocomposite was reduced compared with its precursor. The type-II heterojunction was formed due to suitable band structures of host and guest materials. The CeO2/HTi2NbO7-NS nanocomposite owns the best adsorption capacity and photocatalytic oxidation activity, which was mainly attributed to the lower band gap and efficient separation of electron-hole pairs of CeO2/HTi2NbO7-NS nanocomposite.