Fabrication and photocatalytic degradation of reactive blue 19 by CuWO4, Ag3PO4 and CuWO4-Ag3PO4 composites under visible light irradiation
Mohammad javad Asadollahzadeh
1
(
Department of Chemical Engineering, Shahrood Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shahrood, Iran
)
Aliakbar Arabameri
2
(
Department of Chemical Engineering, Shahrood Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shahrood, Iran
)
Hamed Rashidi
3
(
Department of Chemical Engineering, Shahrood Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shahrood, Iran
)
Javad seyfi
4
(
Department of Chemical Engineering, Shahrood Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shahrood, Iran
)
Keywords: nanocomposite, Photocatalyst, Reactive blue 19, Anthraquinone reactive dye, CuWO4-Ag3PO4,
Abstract :
CuWO4 nano-powder was synthesized via a hydrothermal reaction using CuCl2.2H2O and Na2WO4.2H2O in the stoichiometric 1:1 Cu:W molar ratio and sodium citrate as raw materials. Also, Ag3PO4 was synthesized by a precipitation method using Na2HPO4 and AgNO3. Finally, CuWO4-Ag3PO4 nanocomposite was synthesized in a precipitation route using the as-synthesized CuWO4 and Ag3PO4 as raw materials. The synthesized materials were characterized by the powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) technique. In order to investigate the effect of concentration of the Basic solutions on the obtained materials morphology, the synthesized materials' morphologies were studied by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) technique. As shown by the FESEM images, the CuWO4 material morphology was spherical particles. Besides, the photocatalytic performance of the as-synthesized nanocomposites was studied for the degradation of Reactive Blue 19 (RB19) under direct visible light irradiation. For this purpose, several reaction parameters that affect the degradation yield, such as catalyst amount, pH value, and absence/presence of light, were investigated. The results indicate the higher photocatalytic yield at the presence of light irradiation when the solution's pH value was in the acidic range and the weight percent of silver phosphate in the composite mixture and the catalyst amount was more. The information revealed that a 0.05 g nanocomposite containing 0.24 mmole of Ag3PO4, with an initial pH of 3 and 100 mL of RB 19 with 30 mg/L concentration, approximately after 30 min, could remove completely under visible light illumination.