Fabrication of novel carbon quantum dots modified bismuth oxide (α-Bi2O3/C-dots): Material properties and catalytic applications

Sharma, Shelja; Mehta, S. K.; Ibhadon, A. O.; Kansal, S. K.

Abstract

The present work reports the facile and the template free sonochemical synthesis of a novel catalyst, α-Bi2O3/C-dots, for the degradation of indigo carmine (IC) dye, its simulated dyebath effluent and levofloxacin under visible light catalysis. The compositional, structural, optical and morphological analysis of α-Bi2O3/C-dots was studied using analytical, spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results confirmed the presence of a monoclinic phase of α-Bi2O3in the nanocomposite and crystallite size of 28.75 nm. Photoluminescence (PL) and UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectra (UV-DRS) studies showed good optical properties and a band gap of 2.49 eV. The synthesized photocatalyst showed superior visible-light driven photocatalytic activity for the degradation of indigo carmine dye (86% dye degradation in 120 min) compared to pure α-Bi2O3(57%). α-Bi2O3/C-dots also exhibited 79% degradation of antibiotic drug levofloxacin within 120 min, under optimized conditions of pH, catalyst dose and initial dye concentration. Scavenger studies revealed that hydroxyl radicals and electrons played predominant roles in the photocatalytic degradation of IC dye. With respect to total organic carbon (TOC) analysis, 68.8% total organic carbon reduction of the IC dye (10 mg/L) was observed under the same experimental conditions. The catalytic efficiency of C-dots in the photocatalytic process is explained by proposing a degradation mechanism.

Citation

Sharma, S., Mehta, S. K., Ibhadon, A. O., & Kansal, S. K. (2019). Fabrication of novel carbon quantum dots modified bismuth oxide (α-Bi2O3/C-dots): Material properties and catalytic applications. Journal of colloid and interface science, 533, 227-237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2018.08.056

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 20, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Aug 22, 2018
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2019
• Deposit Date: Mar 14, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 23, 2020
• Journal: Journal of Colloid and Interface Science
• Print ISSN: 0021-9797
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 533
• Pages: 227-237
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2018.08.056
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/1156606
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S002197971830972X