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Description
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Cerium oxide and mixed Cu/Ce oxide nanoparticles were prepared by the oil-in-water (O/W) microemulsion reaction method in mild conditions. The Cu/Ce molar ratio was varied between 0/100 and 50/50. According to X-ray diffraction (XRD), below 30/70 Cu/Ce molar ratio, the materials presented a single phase consistent with cubic fluorite CeO2. However, above Cu/Ce molar ratio 30/70, an excess monoclinic CuO phase in coexistence with the predominant Cu/Ce mixed oxide was detected by XRD and High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM). Raman spectroscopy showed that oxygen vacancies increased significantly as the Cu content was increased. Band gap (Eg) was investigated as a function of the Cu/Ce molar ratio, resulting in values from 2.91 eV for CeO2 to 2.32 eV for the mixed oxide with 30/70 Cu/Ce molar ratio. These results indicate that below 30/70 Cu/Ce molar ratio, Cu2+ is at least partially incorporated into the ceria lattice and very well dispersed in general. In addition, the photodegradation of Indigo Carmine dye under visible light irradiation was explored for selected samples; it was shown that these materials can remove such contaminants, either by adsorption and/or photodegradation. The results obtained will encourage investigation into the optical and photocatalytic properties of these mixed oxides, for widening their potential applications. (2016-06-16)
***This entry has been automatically imported via OpenAlex by LIST harvest scripts. Please refer to https://doi.org/10.3390/ma9060480 for the original and latest version of the publication*** (2026-07-01)
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Keyword
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High-resolution transmission electron microscopy, Materials science, Mixed oxide, Indigo carmine, Cerium oxide, Photodegradation, Monoclinic crystal system, Oxide, Raman spectroscopy, Microemulsion, Nuclear chemistry, Photocatalysis, Inorganic chemistry, Analytical Chemistry (journal), Transmission electron microscopy, Chemistry, Catalysis, Crystallography, Nanotechnology, Crystal structure |