WTa37O95.487 Nanocatalyst for Pollutant Degradation

Abstract

The release of toxic industrial effluents has created serious impacts on human health and the aquatic ecosystem. WTa37O95.487 is a wide-band gap material that was reported in 1971, but no one has investigated its photocatalytic properties due to its wide band gap and unique crystal structure. Herein, we carried out detailed experimental and density functional theory (DFT) simulations of WTa37O95.487 nanocatalysts. The influence of temperature and light intensity on their crystallography, morphology, optical, and photocatalytic properties was studied. The powder obtained at 150 °C (WT-1) exhibited higher photocatalytic activity of 99% of methylene blue dye degradation within 30 min with a pseudo-first-order kinetics constant of 0.0643 min–1. DFT simulations revealed a good correlation between theory and experiment of electronic properties of WTa37O95.487, which consequently validate the catalytic performance of the catalyst. The WTa37O95.487 nanocatalyst is proposed as a novel and effective photocatalyst for treating dye effluents of wastewater.