Eco-friendly auto-combustion synthesis and characterization of SmMnO3/Sm2O3/Mn2O3 nanocomposites in the presence of saccharides and their application as photocatalyst for degradation of water-soluble organic pollutants

Abstract

Organic dyes as major effluents from a variety of industries have been introduced as unwanted pollutions of the environment. In this study, UV-light-driven SmMnO3/Sm2O3/Mn2O3 nanocomposites were fabricated through eco-friendly carbohydrate sugars-based auto-combustion route. A number of different saccharides were selected as both fuel and capping agent to detect the uniformity, structure, morphology, and dimension of the products. Successful realization of field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses over the samples showed that the presence of maltose can provide a morphologically desirable sample. To have the best photocatalytic ability of the SmMnO3/Sm2O3/Mn2O3 nanocomposites, the degradation rate of simulation wastewaters containing Rhodamine B (RhB), Erythrosine (EY), Methyl violet (MV) and Methyl orange (MO) in 10 ppm was investigated under UV light. Considering MO as suitable pollutant model, the highest efficiency was obtained to be 72.24% for samples synthesized in the presence of maltose. The dye-degradation mechanism confirmed the h+, and ●O2− as key species involved in photo-reaction. These compounds were also detected to be reusable.

Keywords

• SmMnO3/Sm2O3/Mn2O3 nanocomposites
• Perovskites
• Auto-combustion synthesis
• Saccharides
• UV-light-driven photocatalysis