Efficient and sustainable photocatalytic degradation of dye in wastewater with porous and recyclable wood foam@V2O5 photocatalysts

Abstract

Biobased sustainable hybrid photocatalyts which can efficiently remove the effluent dye in wastewater and be recycled through simple operation without generating secondary waste is highly needed to protect the natural environment. In this study, two wood foams based hybrid photocatalysts, DMAc/LiCl dissolution-regeneration wood foams@V2O5 (DRWF@V2O5) and tempo-oxidation wood foams@V2O5 (TWF@V2O5), are fabricated by in-situ growth of V2O5 nanowires in DRWF and TWF through hydrothermal methods. The two biobased hybrid photocatalysts are systematically characterized and the photocatalytic activity and recyclability for degradation of methylene blue (MB) are compared. Since DRWF shows higher porosity and SSA than TWF, DRWF@V2O5 displays higher MB adsorption ability and degradation efficiency than TWF@V2O5 (51.6% vs 45.2%). After 10 cycles of photocatalyst, though DRWF@V2O5 remains lower photocatalytic activity than TWF@V2O5 (35.7% vs 38.7%), it shows more robust strength than TWF@V2O5. By comparison the photocatalytic activity and recyclability of DRWF@V2O5 and TWF@V2O5 with photocatalysts prepared in previous works, it was found that the photocatalyst prepared in this work are superior. The remarkable advantages of as-prepared wood foam based composite photocatalysts, including high MB degradation efficiency, excellent recyclability and sustainability, make them promising for wastewater treatment process. This study supplies valuable strategy for sustainable and efficient dye removal in waste water.