A novel CeO2/Bi2WO6 composite with highly enhanced photocatalytic activity

• Novel CeO2/Bi2WO6 composite was synthesized through a two-step method.
• CeO2/Bi2WO6 exhibits a UV-visible light absorption performance and well crystallinity.
• CeO2/Bi2WO6 shows a high photocatalytic activity in the degradation of RhB.
• Effective separation of photogenerated carriers at composite interface.

A straight forward strategy was designed for the preparation of novel CeO2/Bi2WO6 composite photocatalysts with differing CeO2/Bi2WO6 mole ratios by hydrothermal method. The X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectrophotometry (UV–vis DRS) techniques were found to be most suitable for describing the physicochemical properties of CeO2/Bi2WO6 onto the photocatalytic activity. Photocatalytic activities of all samples were evaluated by the degradation of rhodamine B under simulated solar light irradiation. The 0.4CeO2/0.6Bi2WO6 composite exhibits highest photocatalytic activity due to the introduction of CeO2 and Bi2WO6, which can improve the separation of the electron–hole pairs.

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