Citation: Ronghui LI. Photocatalysis performance of nitrogen-doped CeO₂ thin films via ion beam-assisted deposition[J]. Chinese Journal of Inorganic Chemistry, ;2025, 41(6): 1123-1130. doi: 10.11862/CJIC.20240440 shu

Photocatalysis performance of nitrogen-doped CeO₂ thin films via ion beam-assisted deposition

Ronghui LI

Hebei Key Laboratory of Green Development of Rock Mineral Materials, School of Gemology and Materials Science, Hebei GEO University, Shijiazhuang 050031, China

Received Date: 11 December 2024
Revised Date: 6 March 2025

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Nitrogen-doped CeO₂ thin films were synthesized by the ion beam-assisted deposition (IBAD) technique, and their photocatalytic performances were studied. The synthesized thin films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and ultraviolet-visible absorption spectroscopy (UV-Vis). Results showed that the IBAD technology enabled homogenous doping in the whole bulk of CeO₂ thin films, with a significantly higher nitrogen content than traditional nitrogen doping methods. Nitrogen ion bombardment on the growing film surface did not alter the crystal structure of the films—instead, the heavy nitrogen doping induced a smaller grain size of CeO₂. Additionally, with the increase of N doping, the surface became smoother with a smaller particle size. The heavy nitrogen doping also induced a redshift of the visible light absorbance edge from 370 to 480 nm, significantly enhancing the visible light absorption performance of CeO₂ thin films. Photocatalytic degradation tests of methylene blue showed that after 120 min of visible light irradiation, the degradation rate of methylene blue in the solution exceeded 90% and was maintained at ca. 86% even after 6 cycles, demonstrating excellent visible light photocatalytic stability.
- CeO₂,
- nitrogen doping,
- ion beam assisted deposition,
- photocatalysis
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Photocatalysis performance of nitrogen-doped CeO2 thin films via ion beam-assisted deposition

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Photocatalysis performance of nitrogen-doped CeO₂ thin films via ion beam-assisted deposition