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Facile Hydrothermal Synthesis of Tungsten Tri-oxide/Titanium Di-oxide Nanohybrid Structures as Photocatalyst for Wastewater Treatment Application

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Abstract

In this study, tungsten trioxide/titanium dioxide (WO3–TiO2) nanohybrid structures were prepared using a facile hydrothermal method. The nanosheets-like morphology was achieved for the prepared WO3–TiO2 nanohybrid that were confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. Provided X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results also confirm the element existence and surface composition of the nanohybrid structure. The optical properties of the WO3–TiO2 nanohybrid were verified using UV–Visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV–Vis DRS) and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The UV–Vis DRS results indicated that the absorption edge for the WO3–TiO2 nanohybrid found a red shift towards the visible region due to the reduced bandgap (2.83 eV). The photocatalytic activity of the as-prepared WO3–TiO2 nanohybrid was evaluated by the photocatalytic degradation of Orange G dye in wastewaters under visible light. 94% Orange G dye was degraded in 210 min at neutral pH in the presence of WO3–TiO2 nanohybrid, which indicates the enhanced photocatalytic activity. The photo-luminescence technique has also confirmed the formation of –OH radicals during photodegradation by utilizing terephthalic acid as a probe molecule. These results indicate that the prepared nanohybrid material is a simple, low-cost, and efficient photocatalyst for the degradation of pollutants in wastewater treatment applications.

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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.

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Acknowledgements

The Department of Science and Technology, India sponsored this research under the Water Technology Initiative scheme (Grant No. DST/TM/WTI/2K16/258). The author (Najat Marraiki) extends their appreciation to The Researchers Supporting Project number (Grant No. RSP-2020/201) King Saud University, Saudi Arabia. This research work was supported financially by the Grant MOST107-2113-M-037-007-MY2 from Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan and also supported by the Research Center for Environmental Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan from“The Featured Areas Research Center Program within the framework of the Higher Education Sprout Project” by the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Taiwan. The authors gratefully acknowledge the use of SEM, XRD equipment provided by the Instrument Center of National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nanomaterials and Solar Energy Conversion Lab, Department of Chemistry, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, 620 015, India

    Ujwala O. Bhagwat, Karthik Raja Kumar & Sambandam Anandan

  2. Department of Botany & Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia

    Asad Syed & Najat Marraiki

  3. Department of Medicinal and Applied Chemistry & Research Center for Environmental Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung City, 807, Taiwan

    Vinoth Kumar Ponnusamy

  4. Department of Medical Research, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital (KMUH), Kaohsiung City, 807, Taiwan

    Vinoth Kumar Ponnusamy

  5. Department of Chemistry, National Sun Yat-Sen University (NSYSU), Kaohsiung City, 804, Taiwan

    Vinoth Kumar Ponnusamy

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  1. Ujwala O. Bhagwat
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  2. Karthik Raja Kumar
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  3. Asad Syed
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All the authors are equally contributed substantially to the work reported.

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Correspondence to Vinoth Kumar Ponnusamy or Sambandam Anandan.

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Bhagwat, U.O., Kumar, K.R., Syed, A. et al. Facile Hydrothermal Synthesis of Tungsten Tri-oxide/Titanium Di-oxide Nanohybrid Structures as Photocatalyst for Wastewater Treatment Application. J Clust Sci 33, 1327–1336 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10876-021-02053-0

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