Excellence of Engineered Ce₂O₃ and Bi₂O₃@Ce₂O₃ Nanomaterials for Unveiling the Pseudocapacitive and Catalytic Applications

The growing demand for sustainable energy solution illustrates the requirement for advanced materials in catalysis and energy storage devices. The pure cerium and bismuth-doped cerium oxide engineered nanomaterials proposed a significant direction to improved capacitive performance and catalytic efficacy, minimizing basic hurdles in energy storage systems. The present study explored the synthesis of pure Ce₂O₃ and Bi₂O₃@Ce₂O₃ nanomaterials via modified precipitation method. The ammonia water was employed as a strong precipitant. Various characterization techniques were employed for the determination of morphogical and spectral properties. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) confirmed the uniformed size distribution of materials, Energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) confirmed the elemental composition and corresponded only Bi, O and Ce peak. XRD and FTIR were also performed for the determination of crystal structure and functional group bonding respectively. The Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis encapsulated that the Bi₂O₃@Ce₂O₃ exhibited higher specific surface area of about 91.4 m²/g and larger pore size distribution than pure nanomaterial. The prepared nanomaterials were investigated for dual excellence. The doped Bi₂O₃@Ce₂O₃ nanomaterial exhibited remarkable photocatalytic activity of methylene blue dye about 89% at 200 min. Conversely, the materials were also tested for electrochemical performance. Moreover, bismuth-doped cerium oxide also encapsulated excellent capacitance performance about 915 F/g. Interestingly, the prepared material was also tested for cyclic stability. After 2000 cycles, the Bi₂O₃@Ce₂O₃ material shown an impressive stability rate of approximately 85%, demonstrating its suitability for dual applications in catalysis and energy storage systems.