Preparation and degradation performance of Ce_xBi_1-xGdO₃ photocatalytic material based on organic wastewater treatment

Abstract In the industries such as textiles, printing, and papermaking, a large amount of organic dye wastewater is generated, which has obvious characteristics such as long pollution persistence, high bioaccumulation and toxicity, accelerating urban environmental pollution and deterioration. Photocatalysis is an efficient technology for purifying and treating environmental polluted water. Gd-Bi composite oxides with perovskite structure exhibit excellent photoelectric activity in the visible light region, and are expected to be applied in the fields of water pollution prevention and control. In this paper, Cerium ion doped Bismuth Gadolinium (Ce x Bi 1-x GdO 3 ) nanoparticles were prepared by co-precipitation method. The effects of sintering temperature and pH value on the phase change and morphology of the products were analyzed and the effects of Ce 3+ doping on the photocatalytic performance of the samples were also discussed. The results showed that when pH = 9 and sintering temperature T = 700 °C, the cubic bismuth gadolinium with high crystallinity was obtained. When the cerium ion doping ratio was 6%, the catalytic efficiency of Ce x Bi 1-x GdO 3 powder for methylene blue (MB) solution could reach 93.8%, and the catalytic rate constant was approximately 4 times that of the undoped BiGdO 3 sample. The photocatalytic efficiency of Ce 0.06 Bi 0.94 GdO 3 was still up to 85.2% after 4 recycles.