Amorphous LaWOx nanoparticles with rich O defects for photocatalytic RhB degradation

Abstract

Water containing organic pollutants is posing an increasingly serious challenge to the clean water resources on which human beings depend. As a promising environmental purification technology, photocatalytic degradation can directly use solar energy to purify polluted wastewater without any secondary pollution. Synthesized via the wet chemical method, LaWOx nanoparticles display ultraviolet light responsiveness, large surface area, amorphous features, and abundant surface oxygen defects. These characteristics empower LaWOx NPs to efficiently degrade Rhodamine B, achieving a 92.76 % degradation efficiency in 105 min and a rate constant (Kap) of 0.02215 min−1 under full-spectrum irradiation. This study offers insights into developing new amorphous nano-photocatalysts.