Microwave-hydrothermal synthesis of F and Fe co-doped CeO2 photocatalysts for efficient removal of 2,4,6-TCP under visible light

In recent years, the massive use and migration of chlorine-containing organics into the environment potentially threaten the natural environment and human health. Advanced oxidation technology based on photocatalysts is a promising approach for the degradation of chlorine-containing organic pollutants , but the development of stable and efficient photocatalysts remains a challenge. In this study, a new visible light-responsive photocatalyst based on F and Fe co-doped CeO 2 (FeFC) was synthesized by making full use of overall heating characteristic of microwaves. XRD , SEM-EDS, XPS , BET and DRS results showed that F and Fe was successfully co-doped into CeO 2 with increased BET surface and narrowed band gap. The degradation experiments showed that the co-doping of F and Fe significantly enhanced the photocatalytic activity of CeO 2 by enhancing visible light absorption and charge carriers separation. Moreover, CeO 2 material with both F and Fe doping of 10 % (FeFC-10) showed the highest removal (99.8%) and de-chlorination (89%) rates of 2,4,6-TCP within 4h, which was 3.8 and 3.2 times higher than that of pure CeO 2 prepared by microwave and muffle furnace, respectively. Free radical scavenging experiments and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) tests finally demonstrated that the h + and ·OH were the active species that played a catalytic redox role in this reaction system. Furthermore, the degradation intermediates of 2,4,6-TCP were identified by LC-MS and the possible reaction pathways were suggested. In this paper, the photocatalyst (FeFC-10) synthesized by microwave-hydrothermal method could not only save time and energy, but also efficiently degrade 2,4,6-TCP, which could provide the theory and practice for protecting water environment contaminated by chlorine-containing organics through the synthesis of CeO 2 based photocatalysts.