Solution combustion synthesis and characterization of phosphorus doped TiO2–CeO2 nanocomposite for photocatalytic applications

Highlights: • Phosphorus doped TiO₂-CeO₂ nanocomposite was synthesized by solution combustion method. • XRD analysis reveals the retarded phase transition by increased thermal stability. • FE-SEM image shows the porous structure with uniform pore distribution. • The absorption edge of the P/TiO₂-CeO₂ nanocomposite exhibits redshift. • XPS studies indicate that the phosphorus enters substitutionally into Ce⁴⁺/Ti⁴⁺ site. - Abstract: Phosphorus doped TiO₂-CeO₂ nanocomposite (P-TiO₂-CeO₂) was synthesized by solution combustion method. The prepared sample has been heated at different temperatures and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV–vis absorption spectra, X-ray photoelectron spctroscopy (XPS). XRD analysis reveals the retarded phase transition by increased thermal stability due to phosphorus doping. FE-SEM shows the porous structure of the sample. The absorption edge of the P/TiO₂-CeO₂ nanocomposite exhibits redshift with increasing heating temperature with its value around 2.93 eV, 2.90 eV and 2.89 eV at 400 °C, 500 °C and 600 °C respectively. From the observed P2p XPS peak, it is confirmed that the doped phosphorus enters substitutionally into Ce⁴⁺/Ti⁴⁺ site, which can play an important role in the photocatalytic activity of the sample. The binding energy of Ti 2p XPS peak increases slightly from 458.5 eV to 458.8 eV due to interaction between titanium and cerium.