Preparation of Cu2O/CeO2 heterojunction photocatalyst for the degradation of Acid Orange 7 under visible light irradiation

Cu2O/CeO2 heterojunction photocatalysts with different concentrations of Cu2O were prepared by a soak-reduction method using glucose as the reductant, and characterized by XRD, EDS, XPS and UV-vis DRS spectroscopy. The photocatalytic efficiency of the Cu2O/CeO2 composite was evaluated by degradation of Acid Orange 7 in water under visible light (λ > 420 nm) irradiation. The Cu2O/CeO2 composite showed stronger visible light absorption capacity and higher photocatalytic activity than pure CeO2. The sample with a Cu2O /CeO2 molar ratio of 0.029 presented the best photocatalytic activity, which was 20% higher than that of pure CeO2.

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► P-type Cu2O and n-type CeO2 form the p–n heterojunction.
► Cu2O improves the visible light absorption ability of the Cu2O/CeO2 composite.
► Visible light photocatalytic activity of the composite is higher than pure CeO2.