Exploring the photocatalytic degradation of organic textile dye using hydrothermally synthesized Ce-doped metal chalcogenide nanomaterial

Abstract

The advancement of economical, facile and non-toxic approaches towards waste water treatment is a promising research area currently among scientific community. In this regard photocatalysis has specifically received significant attention due to its application in the eradication of toxic elements from wastewater. Hence, in the present study Ce-doped FeSe2 photocatalysts were prepared employing the simple, inexpensive and ecofriendly hydrothermal method. The prepared Ce-FeSe2 nanomaterial was subjected to different characterization techniques like x-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) and UV–visible spectroscopy to explore the characteristic properties of the prepared nanomaterials. XRD results revealed good crystallinity and purity of all synthesized Ce-FeSe2 nanomaterials. Surface morphology and elemental composition of the prepared nanomaterials was determined by FE-SEM and EDS spectroscopy. UV-Visible spectroscopy was used to explore the optical characteristic of the prepared photocatalysts. The results of optical absorption spectrum confirmed that increasing dopant percentage shows an improvement towards optical properties. The photocatalytic ability of the prepared Ce-FeSe2 nanomaterials was examined against the potentially toxic industrial dyes like Rhoadmine B (RB). The photocatalytic results show that 95.21% of dye degradation was exhibited by 7% Ce- doped FeSe2 nanomaterial under UV-visible light illumination duration of 120 min. Findings of the photocatalytic degradation process fitted well with pseudo first order reaction kinetics for RB dye.