Ce2(MoO4)3 synthesized with oleylamine and oleic acid as additives for photocatalysis: effect of preparation method

Ce2(MoO4)3 was prepared using dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma method, co-precipitation method and hydrothermal method, respectively, with water/ethanol (W/O) as solvent, oleylamine (OAm) and oleic acid (OAc) as additives. Preparation method showed significant influence on the morphological and structural properties, as well as photocatalytic performance. Ce2(MoO4)3 synthesized with DBD plasma (MO-P) was mainly flowerlike nanosheets, which were beneficial to promoting electron transfer and providing more space for catalytic activity. Also, MO-P samples exhibited more oxygen vacancies, which were conducive to the photocatalytic performance. What's more, MO-P showed lower PL intensity and narrow energy gap, which implied a slow photoelectron-hole pair recombination rate and an increased electron transfer rate. The degradation rate of methyl orange (50 mg/L) could achieve 98% within 12 min with 0.5 g/L MO-P. Hydroxyl radicals (·OH) and superoxide radicals (·O2-) played a major effect. Plasma synthesis method exhibited potential application prospect in photocatalysts preparation.