Hydrothermal Synthesis of Ce-doped ZnO Heterojunction Supported on Carbon Nanofibers with High Visible Light Photocatalytic Activity

Ce/ZnO decorated carbon nanofibers(CNFs) heteroarchitectures(Ce/ZnO/CNFs) have been synthesized using electrospinning technique followed hydrothermal method, which have a high visible light photocatalytic activity. The samples were characterized by means of SEM, FTIR and XRD. The photocatalytic performance of Ce/ZnO/CNFs was tested with the methylene blue in the presence of visible light irradiation. In this work, we have analyzed the effects of Ce doping amount, initial methylene blue(MB) concentration and dosage of Ce/ZnO/CNFs on photocatalytic efficiency of the composite. The results showed that the photocatalyst containing 1.0% Ce in molarity(CZC1) obtained by autoclaving at 150 °C has the best photocatalytic degradation of MB than other as-synthesized samples. Ce/ZnO/CNFs catalysts exhibit a good stability and reusability, which would be an economical and environmentally friendly photocatalyst for various practical applications.