Preparation of carbon supported cerium doped zinc oxide composite material and its photocatalytic properties study in degradation of methylene blue dye

Carbon supported cerium doped zinc oxide composite material was prepared using bamboo as carbon source, ZnCl₂ as zinc source, Ce(NO₃)₃·6H₂O as cerium source, in one-pot method. These materials were fully characterized by XRD, FTIR, SEM, EDS, BET, XPS, UV-Vis diffuse reflection spectrum (DRS) and photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL). Their properties in photocatalytic degradation of organic dyes were studied at the same time. The optimized preparing condition of the material was obtained as follows: impregnation ratio of ZnCl₂ to bamboo is 3∶10 by mass, calcination temperature is 500℃ and the addition amount of ZnCl₂ is 2.5% of bamboo. The degradation rates of methylene blue (MB) under sunlight and ultraviolet are 92.2% and 93.7%, respectively, under the following condition: dark adsorption time 20 min, illumination time 120 min, 50 mL MB (10 mg·L⁻¹) and catalyst amount 40 mg. Moreover, kinetic studies of the reaction proved that the photocatalytic degradation of MB catalyzed by this material follows the first order reaction kinetics principle. And the catalyst can be reused several times.