Improved photocatalytic decomposition of aqueous Rhodamine-B by solar light illuminated hierarchical yttria nanosphere decorated ceria nanorods

C. Maria Magdalane; K. Kaviyarasu; G. Maria Assuntha Priyadharsini; A.K.H. Bashir; N. Mayedwa; N. Matinise; Abdulgalim B. Isaev; Naif Abdullah Al-Dhabi; Mariadhas Valan Arasu; S. Arokiyaraj; J. Kennedy; M. Maaza

Journal of Materials Research and Technology (May 2019)

Improved photocatalytic decomposition of aqueous Rhodamine-B by solar light illuminated hierarchical yttria nanosphere decorated ceria nanorods

C. Maria Magdalane,
K. Kaviyarasu,
G. Maria Assuntha Priyadharsini,
A.K.H. Bashir,
N. Mayedwa,
N. Matinise,
Abdulgalim B. Isaev,
Naif Abdullah Al-Dhabi,
Mariadhas Valan Arasu,
S. Arokiyaraj,
J. Kennedy,
M. Maaza

Affiliations

C. Maria Magdalane: Department of Chemistry, St. Xavier's College (Autonomous), Tirunelveli 627002, India; LIFE, Department of Chemistry, Loyola College (Autonomous), Chennai 600034, India; Corresponding authors.
K. Kaviyarasu: UNESCO-UNISA Africa Chair in Nanosciences/Nanotechnology Laboratories, College of Graduate Studies, University of South Africa (UNISA), Muckleneuk Ridge, P O Box 392, Pretoria, South Africa; Nanosciences African network (NANOAFNET), Materials Research Department (MRD), iThemba LABS-National Research Foundation (NRF), 1 Old Faure Road, 7129, P O Box 722, Somerset West, Western Cape Province, South Africa; Corresponding authors.
G. Maria Assuntha Priyadharsini: LIFE, Department of Chemistry, Loyola College (Autonomous), Chennai 600034, India
A.K.H. Bashir: UNESCO-UNISA Africa Chair in Nanosciences/Nanotechnology Laboratories, College of Graduate Studies, University of South Africa (UNISA), Muckleneuk Ridge, P O Box 392, Pretoria, South Africa; Nanosciences African network (NANOAFNET), Materials Research Department (MRD), iThemba LABS-National Research Foundation (NRF), 1 Old Faure Road, 7129, P O Box 722, Somerset West, Western Cape Province, South Africa
N. Mayedwa: UNESCO-UNISA Africa Chair in Nanosciences/Nanotechnology Laboratories, College of Graduate Studies, University of South Africa (UNISA), Muckleneuk Ridge, P O Box 392, Pretoria, South Africa; Nanosciences African network (NANOAFNET), Materials Research Department (MRD), iThemba LABS-National Research Foundation (NRF), 1 Old Faure Road, 7129, P O Box 722, Somerset West, Western Cape Province, South Africa
N. Matinise: UNESCO-UNISA Africa Chair in Nanosciences/Nanotechnology Laboratories, College of Graduate Studies, University of South Africa (UNISA), Muckleneuk Ridge, P O Box 392, Pretoria, South Africa; Nanosciences African network (NANOAFNET), Materials Research Department (MRD), iThemba LABS-National Research Foundation (NRF), 1 Old Faure Road, 7129, P O Box 722, Somerset West, Western Cape Province, South Africa
Abdulgalim B. Isaev: Department of Environmental Chemistry and Technology, Dagestan State University, M. Gadjieva, 43a, 367001 Makhachkala, Russian Federation
Naif Abdullah Al-Dhabi: Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, P. O. Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Mariadhas Valan Arasu: Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, P. O. Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
S. Arokiyaraj: Department of Food Science and Biotechnology, Sejong University, Seoul, Republic of Korea; Corresponding authors.
J. Kennedy: UNESCO-UNISA Africa Chair in Nanosciences/Nanotechnology Laboratories, College of Graduate Studies, University of South Africa (UNISA), Muckleneuk Ridge, P O Box 392, Pretoria, South Africa; National Isotope Centre, GNS Science, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
M. Maaza: UNESCO-UNISA Africa Chair in Nanosciences/Nanotechnology Laboratories, College of Graduate Studies, University of South Africa (UNISA), Muckleneuk Ridge, P O Box 392, Pretoria, South Africa; Nanosciences African network (NANOAFNET), Materials Research Department (MRD), iThemba LABS-National Research Foundation (NRF), 1 Old Faure Road, 7129, P O Box 722, Somerset West, Western Cape Province, South Africa

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 8, no. 3
pp. 2898 – 2909

Abstract

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We report the new synthesis route of hierarchical yttria (Y2O3) nanosphere decorated ceria (CeO2) nanorods from the precursor cerium nitrate and yttrium nitrate under hydrothermal method (HM). Synthesized nanorods (NRs) were analyzed by different techniques to investigate their textural morphology, size and shape of nanorods and crystalline structures, morphology growth, optical activity and sizes of the samples. The luminescence blue peaks were observed in the range of 450–490 nm and green emission appeared at 533 nm at the room temperature (RT), the presence of oxygen vacancies was confirmed. The photodecomposition nature of the prepared nanosamples was investigated by using the industrial effluent Rhodamine-B (RhB) dye in aqueous medium by the illumination of solar light. The photocatalytic degradation efficiency showed 95.8% for RhB after 240 min. On illumination of visible light, the catalyst was found to tend to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS), which might account for the decay of dyes into small fractions. The enhanced photocatalytic effect of the synthesized NRs was primarily ascribed to the rising in the separation efficiency of electrons and holes. Keywords: Photocatalytic effect, Ceria, Yttria, Electron microscopy, Rhodamine-B (RhB)

Published in Journal of Materials Research and Technology

ISSN: 2238-7854 (Print); 2214-0697 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: Netherlands
LCC subjects: Technology: Mining engineering. Metallurgy
Website: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-materials-research-and-technology/

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