Biogenic synthesis and catalysis of porous CeO2 hollow microspheres

Porous CeO2 hollow microspheres were successfully prepared through a facile process by using the rape pollen as the biotemplate. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), the N2 adsorption and desorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra, and hydrogen temperature-programmed reduction (H2-TPR) were used for their characterization. The results showed that the obtained materials exhibited the same morphology as that of the pollen template, with a diameter of ca. 10 μm, and the surface was evenly covered with a special network-like structure with mesh size of about 0.3 μm, and the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area was measured to be 156 m2/g. The detailed property investigation inferred that the product exhibited better photocatalytic activity in acid fuchsine decolorization under daylight because of higher surface area, smaller crystallite size and higher oxygen capacity.