Synthesis and Visible-Light Photocatalytic Activity of CeO2 Nanoboxes Based on Pearson's Principle.

The CeO2 nanoboxes with well-defined hollow structure were fabricated by template-engaged coordinating etching of Cu2O cubes based on Pearson's hard and soft acid-base principle. The morphologically uniform CeO2 nanoboxes have an average edge length of 400 nm and shell thickness of around 60 nm. The strong chemical affinity between Cu+ and S2O(2− 3) was the driving force for the etching of Cu2O templates and the formation of shells. A possible formation mechanism of CeO2 nanoboxes was proposed. The synthesized CeO2 nanoboxes exhibit good photocatalytic activity for photodegradation of acid orange 7 (AO 7) under visible light irradiation.