Collagen-Templated Biomimetic Synthesis, Characterizations and Photocatalytic Studies of Anatase Ce/TiO₂

Abstract

Anatase Ce/TiO2 materials were synthesized by using collagen as a template, cerium nitrate as cerium source, and titanium sulfate as titanium source. The structure of Ce/TiO2 was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis (TG–DTA) and DR UV-Vis. The effects of pH, doping amount and calcination temperature on Ce/TiO2 were investigated. The incorporation of Cerium could effectively inhibit the phase transformation from anatase to rutile of TiO2, reduce the crystallite size, improve thermal stability, enhance the light absorption, and enhance photocatalytic activity. The degradation rate of methyl orange was improved by burning temperature increasing. collagen could be used as an ideal bio-template to prepare metal oxide nanoparticles with high crystallinity.