Facile one-step synthesis of cerium oxide-carbon quantum dots/RGO nanohybrid catalyst and its enhanced photocatalytic activity

Abstract Improvement in the catalytic activity of nanostructured cerium oxides (CeOx) was attained by incorporating in-situ generated heteroatom-(N and S)-doped carbon quantum dots/reduced graphene oxide (HDCQD@RGO) nanohybrid catalyst for the degradation of organic pollutants. The CeOx-HDCQD@RGO nanohybrid catalyst was synthesized by a facile, one-pot hydrothermal eco-friendly process. The HDCQD plays a vital role to improve the interaction between CeOx and RGO and function as a sensitizer for the electron-transfer process with CeOx. The size of CeOx and HDCQD are 10 nm and 5 nm, respectively. The nanostructured CeOx possesses multiple oxygen vacancies; this helps to generate the active oxygen and hydroxyl radicals. The active hydroxyl radical generation by the photocatalytic process with the help of nanostructured CeOx results in the improved photodegradation of organic pollutants. In addition, the prepared CeOx-HDCQD@RGO nanohybrid catalyst exhibits an improved water oxidation reaction. The CeOx-HDCQD@RGO nanohybrid performs as an excellent bifunctional catalyst for energy and environmental applications. The method presented here is a facile and environmentally friendly, scalable synthesis of the highly efficient catalyst.