Self-assembly synthesis of flower-like CeO2/MoS2 heterojunction with enhancement of visible light photocatalytic activity for methyl orange

The flower-like CeO 2 /MoS 2 heterojunction was composed by self-assembly of MoS 2 nanoflowers and ultrafine CeO 2 nanoparticles through high-temperature nitrogen annealing. The crystal structure, morphology, specific surface area, chemical state, and optical properties of flower-like CeO 2 /MoS 2 heterostructure material were analyzed by XRD, SEM, (HR) TEM, BET, XPS, UV–Vis, and PL characterization methods. Flower-like CeO 2 /MoS 2 heterostructure material has a large specific surface area and strong adsorption capacity. In the photodegradation of methyl orange, the 20% CeO 2 /MoS 2 material has the best photocatalytic performance, the degradation efficiency of 20% CeO 2 –MoS 2 reaches 96.1% in 90 min and the reaction rate constant ( k ) is 0.0325 min −1 , far exceeding the single-component MoS 2 and single-component CeO 2 . After detailed analysis, we know that the large specific surface area, excellent visible light absorption, and rapid separation of electron–hole pairs help to effectively improve photocatalytic efficiency.