Solution combustion synthesis of CeO₂ nanoparticles for excellent photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue

In this paper, the solution combustion synthesis (SCS) accompanied with calcination at 500 and 600 °C (Ce1 and Ce-2) was used for the synthesis of cerium(IV) oxide (CeO₂) nanoparticles as a facile and low-cost method using Ce(NO₃)₃∙6H₂O as cerium precursor and salicylic acid as oxidizer and fuel. CeO₂ nanoparticles were characterized by FT-IR and UV–Vis spectroscopies, VSM, XRD, EDS, BET and TEM. The FT-IR and XRD results confirmed the pure and single crystalline phase of CeO₂ nanoparticles. The UV–Vis spectra of CeO₂ nanoparticles predicted a narrow and uniform particle size distribution due to a strong band that appeared at ≈ 244 nm. The ferromagnetic nature of the as-prepared CeO₂ nanoparticles was proved by VSM. Moreover, the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye under UV irradiation was investigated and at optimum conditions, the MB removal percentage reaches 93 and 96% for Ce-1 and Ce-2, respectively.