CuWO4 Reinforced Co‐doped HAp Nanocomposite: Improved Photocatalytic Activity Towards Degradation of Eosin Y and Catalytic Activity in Crossed Aldol Condensation Reaction

Abstract

AbstractPreventing the recombination of photoinduced charge carriers in different semiconductor photocatalysts is crucial but high‐performance photocatalyst is still challenging. Herein, we report the synthesis of a novel heterojunction of cobalt‐doped hydroxyapatite with CuWO4 i. e. Co‐HAp@CuWO4 nanocomposite by simple and facile ultrasonication technique. The morphological and structural features of the composite was examined using PXRD, FTIR, SEM, EDS, TEM, UV‐DRS and XPS techniques. The optical analysis showed that the band gap of Co‐HAp@CuWO4 nanocomposite is 1.59 eV which is very much lower than pure HAp. The photocatalytic efficiency of Co‐HAp@CuWO4 was assessed in the degradation of Eosin Y dye under solar light irradiation. The result of degradation capacity is 94.5 % after 70 minutes of solar irradiation and it follows pseudo first‐order kinetics. The impact of different reaction parameters such as catalyst amount, initial concentration of the dye, and solution pH was also examined. The recyclability test showed that the synthesized material was highly stable in the visible‐light driven dye degradation. Heterogeneous catalytic efficacy of the prepared nanocomposite was examined in the crossed aldol condensation reaction of benzaldehyde and acetone and the outcomes confirmed that dibenzylideneacetone (DBA) was formed in the condensation reaction in outstanding yields under optimum conditions.