Investigation of the band gap and photocatalytic properties of CeO₂/rGO composites

CeO₂ and CeO₂/rGO composites photocatalysts has been prepared using simple coprecipitation method. The effect of rGO on structural surface morphology and optical properties of the prepared photocatalysts was characterized using diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller for determination of the specific surface area/ porosity (BET). All prepared photocatalysts exhibits fluorite-type structure with no phase change up to 5 wt percent rGO when calcinated at 700 °C for 1 h. A red shift in optical band gap measurements was observed with increasing rGO percent. Photocatalytic performance of prepared photocatalysts were examined using visible-light-induced photocatalytic reduction of 4-nitroaniline to p-phenylenediamine. The highest photocatalytic efficiency was achieved using CeO₂ photocatalyst with 5 wt percent rGO.