Active removal of waste dye pollutants using Ta3N5/W18O49 nanocomposite fibres
Abstract A scalable solvothermal technique is reported for the synthesis of a photocatalytic composite material consisting of orthorhombic Ta3N5 nanoparticles and WOx≤3 nanowires. Through X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, the as-grown tungsten(VI) sub-oxide was identified as mo...
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2017-06-01
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Series: | Scientific Reports |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-04240-4 |
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doaj-cad439e0e9064ac8a8ecc0b2e1386d532020-12-08T00:26:39ZengNature Publishing GroupScientific Reports2045-23222017-06-017111610.1038/s41598-017-04240-4Active removal of waste dye pollutants using Ta3N5/W18O49 nanocomposite fibresDaniel R. Jones0Virginia Gomez1Joseph C. Bear2Bertrand Rome3Francesco Mazzali4James D. McGettrick5Aled R. Lewis6Serena Margadonna7Waheed A. Al-Masry8Charles W. Dunnill9Energy Safety Research Institute (ESRI), Swansea University Bay CampusEnergy Safety Research Institute (ESRI), Swansea University Bay CampusMaterials Chemistry Centre, Department of Chemistry, University College LondonEnergy Safety Research Institute (ESRI), Swansea University Bay CampusCollege of Engineering, Swansea University Bay CampusSPECIFIC, Swansea University Bay CampusSystems and Processing Engineering Centre (SPEC), Swansea University Bay CampusCollege of Engineering, Swansea University Bay CampusDepartment of Chemical Engineering, King Saud UniversityEnergy Safety Research Institute (ESRI), Swansea University Bay CampusAbstract A scalable solvothermal technique is reported for the synthesis of a photocatalytic composite material consisting of orthorhombic Ta3N5 nanoparticles and WOx≤3 nanowires. Through X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, the as-grown tungsten(VI) sub-oxide was identified as monoclinic W18O49. The composite material catalysed the degradation of Rhodamine B at over double the rate of the Ta3N5 nanoparticles alone under illumination by white light, and continued to exhibit superior catalytic properties following recycling of the catalysts. Moreover, strong molecular adsorption of the dye to the W18O49 component of the composite resulted in near-complete decolourisation of the solution prior to light exposure. The radical species involved within the photocatalytic mechanisms were also explored through use of scavenger reagents. Our research demonstrates the exciting potential of this novel photocatalyst for the degradation of organic contaminants, and to the authors’ knowledge the material has not been investigated previously. In addition, the simplicity of the synthesis process indicates that the material is a viable candidate for the scale-up and removal of dye pollutants on a wider scale.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-04240-4 |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Daniel R. Jones Virginia Gomez Joseph C. Bear Bertrand Rome Francesco Mazzali James D. McGettrick Aled R. Lewis Serena Margadonna Waheed A. Al-Masry Charles W. Dunnill |
spellingShingle |
Daniel R. Jones Virginia Gomez Joseph C. Bear Bertrand Rome Francesco Mazzali James D. McGettrick Aled R. Lewis Serena Margadonna Waheed A. Al-Masry Charles W. Dunnill Active removal of waste dye pollutants using Ta3N5/W18O49 nanocomposite fibres Scientific Reports |
author_facet |
Daniel R. Jones Virginia Gomez Joseph C. Bear Bertrand Rome Francesco Mazzali James D. McGettrick Aled R. Lewis Serena Margadonna Waheed A. Al-Masry Charles W. Dunnill |
author_sort |
Daniel R. Jones |
title |
Active removal of waste dye pollutants using Ta3N5/W18O49 nanocomposite fibres |
title_short |
Active removal of waste dye pollutants using Ta3N5/W18O49 nanocomposite fibres |
title_full |
Active removal of waste dye pollutants using Ta3N5/W18O49 nanocomposite fibres |
title_fullStr |
Active removal of waste dye pollutants using Ta3N5/W18O49 nanocomposite fibres |
title_full_unstemmed |
Active removal of waste dye pollutants using Ta3N5/W18O49 nanocomposite fibres |
title_sort |
active removal of waste dye pollutants using ta3n5/w18o49 nanocomposite fibres |
publisher |
Nature Publishing Group |
series |
Scientific Reports |
issn |
2045-2322 |
publishDate |
2017-06-01 |
description |
Abstract A scalable solvothermal technique is reported for the synthesis of a photocatalytic composite material consisting of orthorhombic Ta3N5 nanoparticles and WOx≤3 nanowires. Through X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, the as-grown tungsten(VI) sub-oxide was identified as monoclinic W18O49. The composite material catalysed the degradation of Rhodamine B at over double the rate of the Ta3N5 nanoparticles alone under illumination by white light, and continued to exhibit superior catalytic properties following recycling of the catalysts. Moreover, strong molecular adsorption of the dye to the W18O49 component of the composite resulted in near-complete decolourisation of the solution prior to light exposure. The radical species involved within the photocatalytic mechanisms were also explored through use of scavenger reagents. Our research demonstrates the exciting potential of this novel photocatalyst for the degradation of organic contaminants, and to the authors’ knowledge the material has not been investigated previously. In addition, the simplicity of the synthesis process indicates that the material is a viable candidate for the scale-up and removal of dye pollutants on a wider scale. |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-04240-4 |
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