Journal
APPLIED MATERIALS TODAY
Volume 23, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.apmt.2021.101033
Keywords
Monolith; MoO3/SiO2; Photodegradation; Metronidazole; Wastewater
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The use of MoO3/SiO2 monolithic photocatalysts demonstrates effective degradation of water pollutants, exhibiting excellent photocatalytic performance and visible-light activity. The catalyst shows efficient degradation of model dyes and antibiotics, high reusability, and advantageous pore structure. The study highlights the potential application of this catalyst in wastewater treatment.
The alarming challenge of water-pollution can be effectively dealt with by using easy-to-recover monolithic-photocatalysts. Herein, MoO3/SiO2 monoliths have been prepared by wet-impregnation route. The crystallinity of the catalyst and oxidation-state of elements were revealed by XRD and XPS analyses, while EDS and color-mapping confirmed the uniform dispersal of elements in the catalyst. FESEM and HRTEM analyses revealed the highly porous surface of monolith and small particle size whereas BET-analysis revealed its pore-size (similar to 15.05 nm) and excellent surface-area (similar to 202m(2)/g). The optical properties disclosed that MoO3/SiO2 monoliths were visible-light-active having band-gap similar to 2.58 eV and a low recombination-rate. The photoactivity of the catalyst was checked through photodegradation of model dye rhodamine-B (Rh-B) and antibiotic metronidazole (MZ). The effects of catalyst-concentration, pH, pollutant-concentration, and illumination-area were investigated. Under visible-light-irradiation, and at natural-pH, excellent efficiency was obtained for Rh-B (88.6%; 0.0129min(-1)) and MZ-degradation (67.4%; 0.0054min(-1) ). Similar experiments in sunlight manifested better efficiency. High reusability of catalyst (similar to 9%-reduction in efficiency after 4-runs) was justified by post-photocatalytic characterization-results. The trapping-experiments displayed that holes had primary involvement in the degradation. The intermediate products of MZ after photodegradation were identified by GC-MS analysis. The photocatalytic treatment of real wastewater (without physicochemical-treatment) showed similar to 64% COD-removal and 57% TOC-removal. The current study along with a comparison with literature demonstrates the potential of the MoO3/SiO2 monoliths for the eradication of recalcitrant-contaminants from a real-world-perspective. (C) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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