Nanosized zinc oxide is an intriguing material that can be applied in various fields. In this study, Ce doped ZnO nano-catalysts (Ce-ZnO) were synthesized by two different methods (i.e., hydrothermal (Ce-ZnO-HT) and polymer gel combustion (Ce-ZnO-CB) methods) to compare their photodegradation efficiency. The prepared material characteristics were investigated using XRD, SEM, TEM, FTIR, UV-Vis, PL, XPS, EDS, and BET. The bandgap of both nanoparticles (NPs) was 2.95 eV, despite the fact that the morphology of Ce-ZnO-HT NPs was 1D-rod-shaped and that of Ce-ZnO-CB NPs was 0D-spherical. However, the surface area and oxygen vacancy rate of Ce-ZnO-HT NPs were higher than those of Ce-ZnO-CB NPs. These differences are directly related to the photocatalytic activity of Ce-ZnO NPs. Accordingly, the results showed that photocatalytic efficiency was classified in the order Ce-ZnO-HT > Ce-ZnO-CB > pure ZnO, and the photocatalytic reaction rate constant of Ce-ZnO-HT used to decompose MB was 3.0 times higher than that of Ce-ZnO-CB. Interestingly, the photodegradation mechanism study revealed that hydroxyl radicals and holes were shown to be more important contributors to methyl blue degradation than photo-induced electrons and superoxide radical ions.
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