One-pot microwave-hydrothermally synthesized carbon nanotube-cerium oxide nanocomposites for enhanced visible photodegradation of acid orange 7

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes (CNT)–cerium oxide (CeO₂) nanocomposites were fabricated successfully by one-pot microwave hydrothermal growth of regular CeO₂ nanoparticles with a size of 8 nm on hydroxyl-functionalized multi-walled CNTs. These nanocomposite photocatalysts demonstrated an acid orange (AO7) photocatalytic degradation efficiency of above 90% under solar-simulated light irradiation for 3 h, which was much higher than that of the pure CeO₂ nanoparticles. The enhanced photocatalytic activity was observed to mainly originate from the ˙O₂⁻ and hole traps, while the hydroxyl radical ˙OH played a secondary role.