Eur. Phys. J. Plus (2017) 132: 239
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/i2017-11462-4

Regular Article

Synthesis of CeO₂ nanoparticles: Photocatalytic and antibacterial activities

¹ Dept. of Chemistry, BMS Institute of Technology, 560064, Bangalore, India
² Dept. of Chemistry, Siddaganga Institute of Technology, 572103, Tumkur, India
³ Dept. of Environmental Science, Tumkur University, 572103, Tumkur, India
⁴ Dept. of Physics, BMS Institute of Technology, 560064, Bangalore, India
⁵ Dept. of Chemistry, SJB Institute of Technology, 560060, Bangalore, India

^* e-mail: nagarajugn@rediffmail.com

Received: 13 July 2015
Accepted: 20 March 2017
Published online: 29 May 2017

Abstract

We have successfully synthesized CeO₂ nanoparticles (Nps) via the solution combustion method using sugarcane juice as a novel combustible fuel. The structural features, optical properties and morphology of the nanoparticles were characterized using XRD, FTIR, and Raman spectroscopy, UV-Vis, SEM and TEM. Structural characterization of the product shows cubic phase CeO₂ . FTIR and Raman spectrum show characteristic peaks due to the presence of Ce-O vibration. SEM images show a porous structure and, from TEM images, the size of the nanoparticles were found to be ∼ 50 nm. The photocatalytic degradation of the methylene blue (MB) dye was examined using CeO₂ Nps under solar irradiation as well as UV light irradiation and we studied the effect of p H, catalytic load and concentration on the degradation of the MB dye. Furthermore, the antibacterial properties of CeO₂ Nps were investigated against Gram+ve and Gram- ve pathogenic bacterial strains using the agar well diffusion method.