Effect of the Oxygen Vacancies in CeO <sub>2</sub> by the Ce <sup>3+</sup> Incorporation to Enhance the Photocatalytic Mineralization of Phenol
Sandra Méndez‐Salazar, Octavio Aguilar‐Martínez, Yanet Piña‐Pérez, R. Pérez-Hernández, C.E. Santolalla-Vargas, R. Gómez, Francisco Tzompantzi
Abstract
Abstract In this paper, the phenol mineralization by Ce 3+ ‐doped CeO 2 by photocatalysis at room temperature, is shown for the first time. The photocatalytic behavior of CeO 2 was improved through the incorporation of Ce 3+ into its crystalline lattice. The materials were prepared by the precipitation method at low temperatures varying the Ce 4+ :Ce 3+ molar ratio of the precursors during the synthesis process. It is worth noting that, the synthesized photocatalysts did not carry out a thermal treatment after their preparation. The results obtained from Raman analysis demonstrated the formation of oxygen vacancies by the incorporation of Ce 3+ . The improvement of the photocatalytic activity was attributed to an optimal content of Ce 3+ which promoted structural defects (such as oxygen vacancies). Radical species, such as O 2 .− , are mainly formed during the photocatalytic process, which are probably the main responsible for inducing the mineralization process of the studied pollutant.