Heterostructured YFeO3/CeO2 as efficient photoelectrode for photoelectrochemical degradation of organic pollutants under visible light irradiation

Yen Shen Kuo, Mu Jung Lin, Cheng Liang Hsu, Yi Hung Liu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

A YFeO3/CeO2 catalyst is developed using a sol-gel procedure to overcome the recombination of photogenerated electron–hole pairs, which limits its degradation efficiency. The YFeO3/CeO2 catalyst is characterized by two distinct orthorhombic YFeO3 and CeO2 phases, with the size of YFeO3 crystal smaller than that of its parent phase. YFeO3/CeO2 with a higher CeO2 content (YC-30) reveals not only a porous morphology and hydrophilicity, but also a reduced energy bandgap (1.74 eV) that is lower than that of either single YFeO3 (1.90 eV) or CeO2 (2.86 eV). In the photocatalysis assessment of the YC-30 electrode, a high photocurrent density of up to 156.3 μA cm−2 at 1.4 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) under simulated sun irradiation is achieved. Furthermore, the YC-30 electrode achieves a favorable photoelectrocatalytic efficiency of 75.2 % under visible light irradiation for Reactive Black 5 dye degradation, which is better than those of the YFeO3 (31.9 %) and CeO2 (46.9 %) electrodes. The improved degradation performance of the YC-30 catalyst can be attributed to its smaller crystallite size, porous structure, and a certain amount of YFeO3/CeO2 heterojunction, which is conducive to the separation of electron–hole pairs owing to electron diffusion driven by the difference in electron density between YFeO3 and CeO2.

Original languageEnglish
Article number104394
JournalJournal of Water Process Engineering
Volume56
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2023

Keywords

  • CeO
  • Heterojunction
  • Photoelectrocatalysis
  • Wastewater treatment
  • YFeO

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