Novel Z-scheme TiO۲/CeO۲ heterojunction with enhanced photocatalytic degradation of sulfamerazine under simulated sunlight irradiation

In this work, TiO۲-CeO۲ heterojunction was fabricated via hydrothermal method and applied for photocatalytic degradation of sulfamerazine antibiotic from waste water under simulated sunlight irradiation. The prepared photocatalysts were characterized by XRD, SEM, EDX, DRS, and Mott-Schottky technique. According to the obtained results, CeO۲ nanoparticles were successfully deposited on the TiO۲ nanorods surface. Furthermore, the results of photocatalytic activity tests revealed that the photocatalytic efficiency was greatly elevated on TiO۲-CeO۲ heterojunction compared to the pure TiO۲ and CeO۲ samples, and the highest degradation percentage was achieved on the heterojunction with ۲۰ mol.% CeO۲ content. This could be ascribed to the efficient separation of charge carriers. Based on the Mott-Schottky calculations, and trapping experiments analysis, Z-scheme charge transfer was suggested to explain the enhanced photocatalytic activity

Keywords:

TiO۲ , CeO۲ , Z-scheme , heterojunction , Sulfamerazine , photocatalyst.