Highly efficient UV-visible-infrared photothermocatalytic removal of ethyl acetate over a nanocomposite of CeO_(2) and Ce-doped manganese oxide

A unique nanocomposite of CeO_(2)nanoparticles and Ce-doped manganese oxide nanofibers having a crystalline cryptomelane-type octahedral molecular sieve(KMn_(8)O_(16)·nH_(2)O,abbreviated as OMS-2)structure(denoted CeO_(2)-CeOMS-2)was prepared by the reaction of Ce(NO_(3))3 and KMnO_(4)at 90°C.CeO_(2)-CeOMS-2 shows extremely high photothermocatalytic activity,very low selectivity for acetaldehyde(an unfavorable byproduct),and excellent durability for ethyl acetate removal under UV-visible-infrared(UV-vis-IR)irradiation.In striking contrast,pure CeO_(2),pure OMS-2,and TiO_(2)(P25)showed much lower photothermocatalytic activities and higher selectivities for acetaldehyde.The CO_(2)production rate within the first five minutes(r CO2)of reaction with CeO_(2)-CeOMS-2 was as high as 1102.5μmol g-1 min-1,which is 137,17,and 30-times higher than those of pure CeO_(2),pure OMS-2,and TiO_(2)(P25),respectively.CeO_(2)-CeOMS-2 also shows good photothermocatalytic activity under vis-IR(λ>420 or 560 nm)irradiation.Further,even under vis-IR(λ>830 nm)irradiation,efficient photothermocatalytic activity was achieved.In addition,the catalytic activity of CeO_(2)-CeOMS-2 is far superior to those of pure CeO_(2)and OMS-2,which is attributed to the fact that Ce doping significantly improves the lattice oxygen activity of OMS-2.The high photothermocatalytic activity of CeO_(2)-CeOMS-2 arises from the synergy between the photocatalytic effect of the CeO_(2)nanoparticles and light-driven thermocatalysis of the Ce-doped OMS-2.The novel photoactivation of Ce-doped OMS-2,which is unlike that of conventional photocatalysis on semiconductor photocatalysts,further promotes the catalytic activity because the surface oxygen activity of Ce-doped OMS-2 is promoted upon UV-vis-IR or vis-IR(λ>560 nm)irradiation.