Enhancement of photocatalytic decomposition of perfluorooctanoic acid on CeO2/In2O3

Abstract

CeO₂-doped indium oxide photocatalysts (xCeO₂/In₂O₃) with various CeO₂ doping amounts were synthesized and systematically characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV-vis spectra, photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL) and photocurrent measurements. The as-obtained xCeO₂/In₂O₃ photocatalysts were used in photocatalytic degradation of PFOA for the first time and much higher photocatalytic activity of xCeO₂/In₂O₃ than CeO₂ and In₂O₃ was obtained under UV light irradiation. The excellent photocatalytic activity of 0.86% CeO₂/In₂O₃ could be mainly derived from effective inhibition of recombination of photo-induced electron-holes caused by the charge transfer between CeO₂ and In₂O₃. Moreover, the 0.86% CeO₂/In₂O₃ catalyst showed excellent photocatalytic stability in cycling runs for the photocatalytic degradation of PFOA, providing a great potential of CeO₂/In₂O₃ catalysts for PFOA treatment.