In-situ growth of CeO2/Ce(OH)CO3 composites with enhanced photocatalytic activity by the incomplete conversion of CeO2 to Ce(OH)CO3

In this paper, a novel strategy was used to grow CeO _2 /Ce(OH)CO _3 composite in situ by the incomplete conversion of CeO _2 to Ce(OH)CO _3 using ethylene glycol (EG) as CO _3 ^2− source and solvent. Interestingly, the content of Ce(OH)CO _3 in CeO _2 /Ce(OH)CO _3 composite can be controlled by changing the solvent composition. The obtained CeO _2 /Ce(OH)CO _3 composite all exhibited enhanced photocatalytic performance for methylene blue (MB) degradation. The CeO _2 /Ce(OH)CO _3 composite prepared at 200 °C for 24 h with a H _2 O/EG volume ratio of 0.5 showed the best visible-light activity with a degradation efficiency of 98.84% within 120 min. This work provided a novel method to fabricate basic rare Earth carbonates and their composites for environmental purification.