Enhanced antimicrobial photocatalysis in CeO2 via Pd doping: A strategy for superior bacterial and fungal resistance

Herein, Pd-doped CeO 2 was synthesized by facile hydrothermal methods, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and transmission electron microscope (TEM) suggests that Pd is successfully incorporated into the CeO 2 lattice. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV–Vis and PL demonstrated that Pd-doped CeO 2 improve the light absorption and enhance the electron-hole separation of CeO 2 . The prepared Pd-CeO 2 exhibits outstanding bactericidal performance. Specifically, 1 % Pd-CeO 2 can completely inactivate Ralstonia solanacearum with an initial concentration of 2 × 10 7 CFU/mL within 60 min, while also demonstrating effective killing against Escherichia coli and various pathogenic fungi. EPR demonstrated that Pd doping into CeO 2 could increase the number of vacancies, electron spin resonance (ESR) tests demonstrated that e - play a major role in the photocatalytic process, disruption of the cellular structure of E. coli during photocatalytic treatment as evidenced by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) tests. Promising reference for the practical application of precious metal photo catalysts in disinfection.