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. 2023 Mar 21;14(3):694.
doi: 10.3390/mi14030694.

Acid-Base and Photocatalytic Properties of the CeO2-Ag Nanocomposites

Alexander A Kravtsov  1 , Andrey V Blinov  1 , Andrey A Nagdalian  2 , Alexey A Gvozdenko  1 , Alexey B Golik  1 , Maxim A Pirogov  1 , Maxim A Kolodkin  1 , Naiyf S Alharbi  3 , Shine Kadaikunnan  3 , Muthu Thiruvengadam  4   5 , Mohammad Ali Shariati  6
Affiliations

Acid-Base and Photocatalytic Properties of the CeO2-Ag Nanocomposites

Alexander A Kravtsov et al. Micromachines (Basel). .

Abstract

In this work, CeO2 nanoparticles, as well as CeO2 nanocomposites with plasmonic silver nanoparticles, were synthesized using a simple sol-gel process. The concentration of silver in the composites varied from 0.031-0.25 wt%. Cerium hydroxide dried gel was calcined at temperatures from 125 to 800 °C to obtain CeO2. It was shown that, at an annealing temperature of 650 °C, single-phase CeO2 nanopowders with an average particle size in the range of 10-20 nm can be obtained. The study of acid-base properties showed that with an increase in the calcination temperature from 500 to 650 °C, the concentration of active centers with pKa 9.4 and 6.4 sharply increases. An analysis of the acid-base properties of CeO2-Ag nanocomposites showed that with an increase in the silver concentration, the concentration of centers with pKa 4.1 decreases, and the number of active centers with pKa 7.4 increases. In a model experiment on dye photodegradation, it was shown that the resulting CeO2 and CeO2-Ag nanopowders have photocatalytic activity. CeO2-Ag nanocomposites, regardless of the silver concentration, demonstrated better photocatalytic activity than pure nanosized CeO2.

Keywords: Ag; CeO2; acid-base properties; nanocomposite; nanoparticles; photocatalytic properties; sol-gel.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Diffraction patterns of cerium hydroxide samples, calcined at temperatures of 125, 500, 650, and 800 °C.
Figure 2
Figure 2
SEM micrograph of a dried sol of silver nanoparticles (a), and a histogram of the hydrodynamic radii distribution of silver nanoparticles (b).
Figure 3
Figure 3
SEM micrographs of the CeO2-Ag4 sample: (a) 128,000-fold magnification; (b) 25,600-fold magnification.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Histogram of particle size distribution in a suspension of a CeO2 sample redispersed in water.
Figure 5
Figure 5
EDX spectrum of the CeO2-Ag4 sample.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Acid-base properties of CeO2-Ag nanocomposites.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Scheme of the CeO2-Ag nanocomposite formation.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Change of color coordinates in the CIE 1931 coordinate system during the photodegradation of methyl orange: (a) CeO2, (b) CeO2-Ag1, (c) CeO2-Ag2, (d) CeO2-Ag3, (e) CeO2-Ag4.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Change of color coordinates in the CIE 1931 coordinate system during the photodegradation of methyl orange: (a) CeO2, (b) CeO2-Ag1, (c) CeO2-Ag2, (d) CeO2-Ag3, (e) CeO2-Ag4.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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