High efficient and stable photocatalyst CeO2/ZnO for tetracycline degradation

Three kinds of CeO 2 /ZnO nanocomposites were successfully prepared by the hydrothermal method. The morphology and composition tests show that the CeO 2 cubic nanoparticles with a side length of about 10 nm are uniformly loaded on the irregular ZnO nanosheets. Under ultraviolet light irradiation, CeO 2 /ZnO (1:5) has the best photocatalytic performance and the degradation efficiency of tetracycline (TC) is 97.2% within 140 min. In addition, with CeO 2 /ZnO (1:5) as photocatalyst, the degradation rate of TC only decreased by 1.3% after 6 cycles, indicating that CeO 2 /ZnO (1:5) has excellent photocatalytic stability. Therefore, the CeO 2 /ZnO (1:5) nanocomposite has a bright future for industrial application in wastewater treatment.