Synthesis and photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B using ternary zeolite/WO3/Fe3O4 composite

Demand for freshwater increases day by day as impurity increases due to the industrial, domestic and municipal waste in the water. Inappropriate disposal of coal fly ash (CFA) is not eco-friendly, therefore the need is to convert it into some beneficial material like zeolite. Zeolite-based composites with metal oxides show high cation interchange capacity, fast adsorption, and high efficiency for the removal of wastewater pollutants. In this research work, metal oxide along with zeolite (derived for CFA) was prepared. Metal oxide (WO3) and magnetite (Fe3O4) based zeolite composite was used adsorption enhanced photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B dye. Ternary composite (zeolite/WO3/Fe3O4) was characterized using a scanning electron microscope, x-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The bandgap energy of composite was estimated using Tauc plot method from the data obtained after UV-visible spectroscopy. The behavior of composite under acidic and basic conditions was analyzed using pH(pzc) of the composite. Influencing parameters like pH, dye concentration, contact time, and catalyst dosage was optimized under ultraviolet irradiations (254 nm). The results show that maximum degradation was achieved with zeolite/WO3/Fe3O4 composite under optimized conditions of pH = 7, catalyst dosage = 10 mg/100 ml, RhB concentration 10 ppm, and time 60 min. The first-order kinetic model was best fitted to the experimental data. RSM was used as a statistical tool to analyze the data.

Automated summary

The demand for freshwater is increasing due to pollution from industrial, domestic, and municipal waste, leading to the need for converting coal fly ash (CFA) into beneficial materials like zeolite. Zeolite-based composites with metal oxides show high efficiency in removing wastewater pollutants. The combination of metal oxide (WO3) and magnetite (Fe3O4) with zeolite in this study exhibited enhanced photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B dye under optimized conditions.