Enhanced photocatalytic activity of cobalt-doped CeO 2 nanorods
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Enhanced photocatalytic activity of cobalt-doped CeO2 nanorods N. Sabari Arul • D. Mangalaraj • Pao Chi Chen N. Ponpandian • P. Meena • Yoshitake Masuda
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Received: 12 August 2012 / Accepted: 18 September 2012 / Published online: 28 September 2012 Ó Springer Science+Business Media New York 2012
Abstract In this paper, CeO2 and cobalt-doped CeO2 nanorods synthesized by surfactant free co-precipitation method. The microstructures of the synthesized products were characterized by XRD, FESEM and TEM. The structural properties of the grown nanorods have been investigated using electron diffraction and X-ray diffraction. High resolution transmission electron microscopy studies show the polycrystalline nature of the Co-doped cerium oxide nanorods with a length of about 300 nm and a diameter of about 10 nm were produced. The X-ray Photoelectron spectrum confirms the presence of cobalt in cerium oxide nanorods. From BET, the specific surface area of the CeO2 (Co-doped) nanostructures (131 m2 g-1) is found to be significantly higher than that of pure CeO2 (52 m2 g-1). The Co-doped cerium nanorods exhibit an excellent photocatalytic performance in rapidly degrading azodyes acid orange 7 (AO7) in aqueous solution under UV illumination.
N. S. Arul (&) D. Mangalaraj N. Ponpandian Department of Nanoscience and Technology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore 641 046, India e-mail: [email protected] P. C. Chen Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, Lunghwa University of Science and Technology, Taoyuan, Taiwan P. Meena Department of Physics, PSGR Krishnammal College for Women, Coimbatore 641 004, India Y. Masuda National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), 2266-98 Anagahora, Shimoshidami, Moriyama-ku, Nagoya 463-8560, Japan
Keywords Co-doped CeO2 nanorods Chemical synthesis Surface area Photocatalytic properties AZO dyes
1 Introduction One-dimensional (1D) nanostructured materials exhibit many exclusive physical and chemical properties that are quite different from the bulk state due to the enhanced surface area to volume ratio and quantum confinement [1–6]. Cerium oxide (CeO2, ceria) is a face-centered cubic fluoritetype crystal which is stable from room temperature to its melting point. It has substantially fascinated researchers due to its wide application as a promising material for catalysts [7], oxygen sensors [8], UV blockers [9], etc. Various techniques such as, precipitation, hydrothermal, reverse micelles, sonochemical, sol gel method, etc. have been employed to synthesize nanostructured ceria by using either surfactants or costly chemicals as doping materials [10–16]. Among the different synthesis techniques, the precipitation technique is an attractive one owing to its advantages of low cost, simple process and easy scale-up. This method involves simultaneous occurrence of nucleation, growth, coarsening and agglomeration processes, which significantly affect the size, morphology and properties of the products [17, 18]. Most of the previous reports w
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