CeO₂ Nanocrystal Decorated TiO₂ Nanobelt with Enhanced Photocatalytic Performance.

In this work, CeO₂ nanocrystal-decorated TiO₂ nanobelt for forming a CeO₂@TiO₂ heterostructure. CeO₂ plays a dual role in improving photocatalytic activity, not only by promoting the separation and transfer of photogenerated charge carriers, but also by increasing visible light absorption of the photocatalyst as a photosensitizer. The as-prepared CeO₂@TiO₂ heterostructure demonstrates the performance of organic degradation and H₂ production (about 17 μmol/h/g, which is about 2.5 times higher than that of pure TiO₂ nanobelts). Our work provides a facile and controllable synthesis method for high performance photocatalyst, which will have potential applications in synthesis clean/solar fuel, and photocatalytic water treatment.