Soft chemical synthesis and characterization of BaWO4 nanoparticles for photocatalytic removal of Rhodamine B present in water sample

In recent years, the use of metal oxides as photocatalysts for degradation of organic substances has attracted the attention of the scientific community. Metal oxide nanoparticles have been studied due to their novel optical, electronic, magnetic, thermal and potential applications as catalysts, gas sensors, photo-electronic devices, etc. In this research work, we report a simple, soft chemical route for synthesizing BaWO4 nanoparticles using cheap chemicals such as barium nitrate (precursor salt) and sodium tungstate (precipitating agent). The final product was dried at room temperature overnight and calcined at 400 degrees C and 800 degrees C for 2 h to get phase-pure product. The prepared nanoparticles (as prepared and heat-treated samples) were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis and UV-Vis spectroscopy techniques. Photocatalytic degradation characteristics of Rhodamine B in water using BaWO4 nanoparticles were studied and reported.