Enhancement of photocatalytic decomposition of perfluorooctanoic acid on CeO2/In2O3

CeO2-doped indium oxide photocatalysts (xCeO2/In2O3) with various CeO2 doping amounts were synthesized and systematically characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV-vis spectra, photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL) and photocurrent measurements. The as-obtained xCeO2/In2O3 photocatalysts were used in photocatalytic degradation of PFOA for the first time and much higher photocatalytic activity of xCeO2/In2O3 than CeO2 and In2O3 was obtained under UV light irradiation. The excellent photocatalytic activity of 0.86% CeO2/In2O3 could be mainly derived from effective inhibition of recombination of photo-induced electron-holes caused by the charge transfer between CeO2 and In2O3. Moreover, the 0.86% CeO2/In2O3 catalyst showed excellent photocatalytic stability in cycling runs for the photocatalytic degradation of PFOA, providing a great potential of CeO2/In2O3 catalysts for PFOA treatment.