Synthesis and characterization of Ce-doped CuO nanostructures and their photocatalytic activities

• Ce-doped CuO nanoleaves were synthesized by co-precipitation method.
• Their photocatalytic activities were evaluated through methylene blue degradation.
• 3 mol% Ce-doped CuO exhibited the highest photocatalytic performance.

Multiple nanoplate-like CuO and Ce-doped CuO nanoleaves were synthesized by a simple co-precipitation of Cu(NO3)2∙6H2O and Ce(NO3)3∙6H2O in alkaline solutions. In this research, the as-synthesized samples were monoclinic CuO with high crystalline degree. Undoped CuO was composed of multiple nanoplate clusters, which were broken and transformed into nanoleaves for Ce-doped CuO samples. The undoped CuO and 3 mol% Ce-doped CuO were applied for photodegradation of methylene blue under UV light. The last showed the best photocatalytic performance to degrade the methylene blue dye.