Cerium doped zirconium dioxide as a potential new photocatalytic material. The role of the preparation method on the properties of the material

- Zirconium dioxide has been doped with Ce4+ ions (0.5%) using three distinct synthetic procedures.
- A red shift of the ZrO2 band gap transition is observed in the case of the doped samples.
- Visible light produces charge separation in the system.
- Photons with energy E < 2.95 eV cover a band gap of 5 eV by means of a double jump mechanism.
- Oxygen is reduced to surface superoxide by photo-promoted electrons.