Sun-light-driven photocatalytic annihilation of Methyl Orange degradation, Hydrogen production and stability assessment via conventional hydrothermal preparation of novel Cd and Co co-doped Bi2WO6
M.A. Qadeer, Ahmad Ruhan Ali, Muhammad Tanveer, Safeera Yasmeen, Ghulam Nabi, Muhammad Tahir
Abstract
The present work focuses on the novel formation of Cd and Co co-doped Bi 2 WO 6 nanostructures via the hydrothermal method to enhance the photocatalytic degradation of MO dye. We analyzed the produced nanostructures for their optical, morphological and crystallographic properties using PL , UV–Vis, SEM, XRD , and FTIR spectroscopy . A study of X-ray diffraction confirmed the crystallographic properties of developed nanostructures are improved by the incorporation of co-dopant, and the crystallite size was reduced. SEM revealed the hierarchical structures of produced nanostructures. FTIR showed the functional groups present in the samples. The energy gap of the established nanostructures was reduced from 2.75 eV to 1.57 eV due to the co-dopant material. The optimized nanostructure Cd 0.04 Co 0.03 Bi 1.93 WO 6 nanostructure was proven to be the most efficient catalyst for the degradation of MO dye up to 98% in 64 min. The results revealed that the Cd 0.04 Co 0.03 Bi 1.93 WO 6 had a K value of 0.05134 min −1 , and exhibited excellent stability (92 %) after five consecutive cycles. Further optimized nanostructure was produced maximum hydrogen ( 19.2 m m o l g − 1 h − 1 ). As a result, an optimized nanostructure will be the most efficient photocatalyst for eradicating harmful dyes from water and energy production.