A novel WO3 sonocatalyst for treatment of rhodamine B under ultrasonic irradiation

Pure WO3 powder was prepared from a simple method and applied into sonocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B (RhB), the model compound. The structure and properties of samples were characterized by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) absorption spectroscopy, and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. We studied the effects of WO3 on the sonocatalytic degradation of RhB and the operational parameters such as catalyst dosage and RhB concentration. The experimental results showed that the best sonocatalytic degradation ratio (59.39%) of organic dyes could be obtained when the optimal conditions of 10.00-mg/L initial concentration, 3.00-g/L prepared WO3 powder added amount, 99-W ultrasound output power, and 270-min ultrasonic irradiation were adopted. Under ultrasonic conditions, the degradation rate after addition of WO3 reached the highest activity of 57.9%, and about three times the rate of degradation was not added. Abundant center dot OH was induced by WO3 powder under ultrasonic irradiation, which may be the main contributor to the high sonodegradation rate.