SYNTHESIS, CHARACTERIZATION OF CeO2@Ag HOLLOW SPHERES AND EVALUATION OF THEIR CATALYST ACTIVITY FOR THE REDUCTION OF 4-NP

A CeO2@Ag hollow spherical composite catalyst was synthesized with the template method. Firstly, a SiO2@CeO2 core-shell structure was synthesized using SiO2 spheres as the template, and then the SiO2 core was removed by etching to obtain hollow CeO2 spheres. The CeO2 hollow microspheres have a large specific surface area, which can effectively suppress the aggregation of Ag nanoparticles, leading to CeO2@Ag with a regular morphology and well dispersed Ag nanoparticles. There is a strong synergistic effect between CeO2 and Ag, which is beneficial to improving the catalytic performance. As a result, the CeO2@Ag hollow spherical composite catalyst can reduce 4-nitrophenol efficiently.