Application of modified cerium dioxide for photocatalytic air pollution purification

Cerium dioxide (CeO2) is a significant rare earth oxide with the merits of rich oxygen defects, specific 4f(1)5d(1) orbitals, and superior oxygen storage-release capacity in Ce4+/Ce3+ reversibility pairs, and has been widely investigated as an active photocatalytic material for air pollution remediation. To enhance the photocatalytic efficiency of CeO2, recent developments of numerous modification strategies have been employed to broaden the light absorption range and reduce the recombination rate of electron-hole pairs. This review summarizes the fabrication of modified CeO2 catalysts, including metal or nonmetal doping, heterostructure construction and oxygen vacancy manufacturing, to provide insight into how those advanced techniques improve the photocatalytic activity. Moreover, this work provides a detailed discussion on the usage of modified CeO2 in the fields of air pollution control, including nitrogen oxides removal, volatile organic compounds elimination and the purification of carbon dioxide. Finally, the potential future development and further research on the modification of CeO2 has been identified.