Effect of the Addition of CeO2 to Iron Phosphate Glass for Catalytic Applications

We investigated the effect of CeO2 content on the catalytic behavior and chemical properties of the (100 - x)(80P2O5-20Fe2O3)-xCeO2 (x = 0, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24 wt%) glass system. Using thermogravimetric analysis, we confirmed that the catalytic activity increased until a CeO2 content of 16 wt%, beyond which, it decreased. The reasons for the change in the catalytic properties of the glass samples were determined using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and density analyses. It was confirmed using the FT-IR and XPS-01s spectra that CeO2 acts as a network modifier in iron phosphate glass. When the CeO2 content is above 16 wt%, the number of non-bridging oxygen atoms decreases with increasing CeO2 content. For these reasons, the catalytic properties decrease when the CeO2 content is more than 16 wt%. From the dissolution rate measurements, it can be observed that cerium-iron phosphate has a high water resistance. Also, as we expected, it can be confirmed that the chemical durability is improved with increasing CeO2 content.