| Summary: | Cerium element with a unique electric structure can be used to modify semiconductor photocatalysts to enhance their photocatalytic performances. In this work, Ce-doped TiO<sub>2</sub> (Ce/TiO<sub>2</sub>) was successfully achieved using the sol-gel method. The structural characterization methods confirm that Ce was doped in the lattice of anatase TiO<sub>2</sub>, which led to a smaller grain size. The performance test results show that the Ce doped in anatase TiO<sub>2</sub> significantly enhances the charge transport efficiency and broadens the light absorption range, resulting in higher photocatalytic performance. The Ce/TiO<sub>2</sub> exhibited a photocurrent density of 10.9 μA/cm<sup>2</sup> at 1.0 V vs. Ag/AgCl, 2.5 times higher than that of pure TiO<sub>2</sub> (4.3 μA/cm<sup>2</sup>) under AM 1.5 G light. The hydrogen (H<sub>2</sub>) production rate of the Ce/TiO<sub>2</sub> was approximately 0.33 μmol/h/g, which is more than twice as much as that of the pure anatase TiO<sub>2</sub> (0.12 μmol/h/g). This work demonstrates the effect of Ce doping in the lattice of TiO<sub>2</sub> for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production.
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