| dc.description.abstract | Heterogeneous semiconductor photocatalysts mainly use two different semiconductor interfaces to improve the photocatalytic performance of a single semiconductor photocatalyst, because the heterojunction can effectively increase the separation ability of electron-hole pairs and reduce the recombination rate. In this study, YFeO3/CeO2 composites were successfully synthesized by the sol-gel method, and the photocatalytic properties of YFeO3 were improved.
In the instantaneous photocurrent detection, the YFeO3/30%CeO2 composite can increase the photocurrent density of YFeO3 from 12.8 µA/cm2 to 156.3 µA/cm2, an increase of about 12 times, and it also has better photocatalytic properties than pure CeO2. In addition, the photocurrent density of the composites at other ratios also increases with the CeO2 content, indicating that the YFeO3/CeO2 heterojunction can indeed improve the photoelectrochemical performance.
In this study, the photocatalytic degradation and the photoelectrocatalytic degradation of RB5 were also compared. In the photocatalytic system, the photodegradation efficiencies of YFeO3, CeO2, and YFeO3/30 %CeO2 were 18.5%, 37.4% and 48.0%, respectively. On the other hand, in the photoelectrocatalytic degradation system, the degradation efficiencies of YFeO3, CeO2, YFeO3/30 %CeO2 for RB5 were 32.6%, 47.9% and 75.6%, respectively. It can be seen from the results that with the help of the applied voltage, electrons are effectively transferred to the counter electrode, the recombination rate of electron-hole pairs can be reduced, and the degradation efficiency can be greatly improved. Finally, the Mott-Schottky measurements were performed on YFeO3 and CeO2, respectively, and the position of the flat band was obtained. Then the conduction band position and valence band position of YFeO3 and CeO2 were obtained by calculation. Furthermore, the mechanism of photocatalytic degradation of RB5 by YFeO3/CeO2 composites was deduced. | en_US |