Journal article 1029 views 173 downloads
Active removal of waste dye pollutants using Ta3N5/W18O49 nanocomposite fibres
,
Joseph C. Bear,
Bertrand Rome,
Francesco Mazzali,
James McGettrick ,
Aled R. Lewis,
Serena Margadonna ,
Waheed A. Al-Masry,
Charlie Dunnill
Scientific Reports, Volume: 7, Issue: 1
Swansea University Authors:
Daniel Jones, Virginia Gomez , James McGettrick , Serena Margadonna , Charlie Dunnill
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DOI (Published version): 10.1038/s41598-017-04240-4
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...
| Published in: | Scientific Reports |
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| ISSN: | 2045-2322 2045-2322 |
| Published: |
2017
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| Online Access: |
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa34442 |
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| 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. |
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| Keywords: |
Nanowires, Photocatalysis |
| College: |
Faculty of Science and Engineering |
| Issue: |
1 |