Facile fabrication of PS-CHO@CeO2 core-shell composite microspheres via in-situ chemical deposition and their photocatalytic application on oxidative degradation of MO

Abstract

In this study, the modified polystyrene aldehyde microspheres (PS-CHO) were first prepared via the copolymerization of the styrene and the acrolein, and then PS-CHO@CeO2 composite microspheres were fabricated through in-situ chemical deposition of CeO2 nanoparticles. These composite microspheres were used to catalyze the oxidative degradation of methyl orange (MO) by H2O2. The morphology of the products was observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were employed to characterize the chemical state and structure. Optical absorption and band energy properties were investigated by ultraviolet-visible/near-infrared diffuse reflectance spectra (UV-Vis-NIR). The degradation process was monitored with ultraviolet-visible spectrometer (UV-Vis). The results revealed that when the mass ratio of PS-CHO and cerium nitrate was 1:0.26, highly-uniformed and well-dispersibility PS-CHO@CeO2 composite microspheres were obtained at pH 8.5 and the concentration of Ce[Formula: see text] ions was significantly increased compared with commercial CeO2 NPs. Under ultraviolet light irradiation, the degradation efficiency of MO by PS-CHO@CeO2 composite microspheres was increased up to 93.03%, which was 1.44 times that of commercial CeO2 NPs in 120 min. The reiteratively tests further proved that the activity of the composite microspheres maintained unchanged after four cycles. The formation and photocatalytic mechanisms of PS-CHO@CeO2 composite microspheres were proposed.