ALBERT

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Chemosphere, Volume 235〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Misganaw Alemu Zeleke, Dong-Hau Kuo〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Methylene blue dye is among the toxic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic pollutants. Hence, its treatment via photocatalytic degradation is an important remediation method for the sake of a healthy environment. Herein, the V〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉5〈/sub〉-CeO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 nanocomposite catalysts were synthesized via a simple precipitation-thermal decomposition approach and used for the photodegradation of methylene blue in the presence of H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 as an effective electron scavenger under visible light illumination. The nanocomposite catalysts were systematically characterized to investigate the effects of V〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉5〈/sub〉 with the aids of X-ray, morphology, light absorption, catalytic activity, and charge transfer properties of the nanocomposite catalysts. The VC-2 nanocomposite prepared with NH〈sub〉4〈/sub〉VO〈sub〉3〈/sub〉:CeO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 molar ratios at 0.15:1 was found to be the best efficient catalyst where ≥98% of methylene blue was degraded within 25 min irradiation time. From the kinetics analysis, its rate constant was found to be higher than those of the pure V〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉5〈/sub〉 and CeO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 catalysts by a factor of 12.0 and 13.5, respectively. The plausibly mechanistic elucidation of charge transfer and utilization of reactive species are conspicuous allegations of the combined effects of the nanocomposite catalyst, H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 sacrificial agent, and visible light for the photodegradation of the dye.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0045653519314717-fx1.jpg" width="294" alt="Image 1" title="Image 1"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉