Effect of substituting molybdenum atoms with tungsten on photocatalyst activity of cesium salt of keggin type polyoxometalates decorated magnetic ceria

Publication date: Available online 8 December 2018Source: Journal of Molecular StructureAuthor(s): Haleh Mohebali, Abdolghafar Abolhosseini Shahrnoy, Ali Reza MahjoubAbstractHerein the potential use of cesium salts of polyoxometalate incorporated ceria and magnetic ceria as a photocatalyst for the photodegradation of Congo red was studied. Polyoxometalates salts (cesium salts of tungestophosphoric acid (H3PW12O40), molybdophosphoric acid (H3PMo12O40), and 6-molybdo tungestophosphoric acid (H3PW6Mo6O40)), having Keggin structure with large cations like Cs+, are porous materials. The morphological and structural studies of synthesized nanocomposites were carried out using powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), N2 adsorption-desorption, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). Results indicated that the Fe3O4@CeO2/Cs-PMoyW12-yO40 and CeO2/Cs-PMoyW12-yO40 (y=0, 6, 12) nanocomposites are successfully synthesized. UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy determined the absorption edge and band gap energies of the prepared nanocomposites as a direct semiconductor. All the obtained structures were applied as photocatalys for degradation of Congo red dye in aqueous solutions under visible light. The Fe3O4@CeO2/Cs-PMo6W6O40 photocatalyst exhibited the highest photocatalytic activity under visible light.Graphical abstract
Source: Journal of Molecular Structure - Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research