Photoactive aurivillius oxide integrated porous polymer monoliths as renewable visible light catalyst for decontaminating persistent organic pollutants

This article uses a mesoporous organic polymer monolithic template embedded with nanosheets of aurivillius oxide, i.e., Bi2MoO6 (BMO), as a visible light harvesting photocatalyst, for the photocatalytic dissipating for persistent organic pollutants. FE-SEM, EDAX, HR-TEM, SAED, p-XRD, UV-Vis-DRS, FT-IR, PLS, BET/BJH, and XPS analysis were performed to characterize the structural and surface morphological features of the new-age photocatalyst. The unique properties of BMO nanocomposite and a specific quantity (0.75 g) of its integration onto a translucent polymer monolith bring an innovative approach to heterogeneous photocatalysis, with photocatalytic properties far superior and more efficient than non-benign conventional methodologies. The impact of physicochemical parameters such as solution pH, photocatalyst amount, light intensity, pollutant concentration, and oxidizer dosage was evaluated to optimize the process efficacy. The BMO-0.75 dispersed polymer monolith offers superior visible light absorption and voluminous photoactive sites for the dissipation of Reactive Brown-10 (RB-10; = 99.4%) and ciprofloxacin (CIP; = 98.7%) at an optimized solution pH (1.0 and 6.0), photocatalyst dosage (50 and 40 mg), and photoadditives (1.0 mM KBrO3 and 1.0 mM H2O2), for RB-10 (15 ppm) and CIP (20 ppm), respectively, in = 0.3 h of irradiation, using 300 W/cm(2) tungsten lamp. The photocatalyst is reusable for several cycles without loss in efficiency and is efficient in decontaminating persistent organic pollutants at an affordable cost and time.

Automated summary

This article presents a novel approach to heterogeneous photocatalysis using a mesoporous organic polymer monolithic template embedded with aurivillius oxide nanosheets. The BMO-0.75 dispersed polymer monolith demonstrates superior visible light absorption and voluminous photoactive sites for the efficient removal of reactive brown-10 and ciprofloxacin. The photocatalyst is reusable, cost-effective, and capable of decontaminating persistent organic pollutants.