Abstract
The content of defects and manipulation of oxygen vacancies in ceria (CeO2) nanomaterials through doping have been widely used as effective strategies to rationally control its reactivity for diverse applications. In this work, a facile and simple fabrication method of CeO2 nanorod crystals is demonstrated where; defects content and oxygen vacancies were tailored by doping with transition metal (Iron, Fe) ions. The effect of Fe-doping level (Ce0.95Fe0.05O2 and %, Ce0.9Fe0.1O2) on the structural, morphological, and optical properties of ceria nanorods was explored in detail. Undoped and Fe-doped CeO2 nanorods were further explored for their use in photocatalytic activity and humidity sensing applications. The results revealed superior photocatalytic activity of Ce0.9Fe0.1O2 by showing about 90% degradation of organic dye within 80 min of reaction time. Further, the same sample demonstrated excellent humidity sensing capabilities with faster response (-19 s) and recovery rate (49 s) at 100% humidity conditions than other investigated samples. This work presents a systematic study on the fluencies of Fe doping in CeO2 nanorod crystals to better understand the role of oxygen vacancies for tailoring their structural and optical properties for proficient environmental and sensing applications.