Preparation, characterization and catalytic property of CeO₂-La₂O₃/attapulgite nanocomposites

CeO₂-La₂O₃/attapulgite(CeO₂-La₂O₃/ATP) nanocomposites with different molar ratios of Ce⁴⁺ to La³⁺ were prepared by homogeneous precipitation method using ATP as support, cerium nitrate hexahydrate and lanthanum nitrate hexahydrate as raw materials, and hexamethylene tetramine as precipitant, respectively. TG-DSC, TEM, XRD and FTIR were adopted to characterize the microstructure and composition of the prepared products. Effects of molar ratios of Ce⁴⁺ to La³⁺ and the dosage of H₂O₂ as oxidant on the decolorization of acid fuchsin were investigated. Results indicate that the solid solution particles with a size of 5-10 nm are uniformly dispersed on the surface of ATP when the molar ratio of Ce⁴⁺ to La³⁺ is 5:5. With the increase of the molar ratio of Ce⁴⁺ to La³⁺, the decoloring rate tends to increase first and then decrease. The decoloring rate can reach 82% after 300 min, when the concentration of acid fuchsin is 100 mg/L, the molar ratio of Ce⁴⁺ to La³⁺ is 5:5 and the dosage of H₂O₂ is 10 mL.