Erbium(III) tungstate nanoparticles; optimized synthesis and photocatalytic evaluation

Abstract

The study has been focused on the synthesis of erbium(III) tungstate nanoparticles through an optimized chemical precipitation approach. The optimization procedure was carried out through the Taguchi robust design (TRD) to evaluate the effects of the synthesis conditions on the particle size and morphology of the product. The results proved that 33 nm erbium tungstate nanoparticles could be synthesized under the controlled optimal conditions. The composition and morphology of the erbium tungstate nanoparticles were assessed through a range of techniques including X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV–Vis and FT-IR spectroscopy, and the band gap energy of the product was obtained using Tauc’s equation. Furthermore, the effects of the presence of the nanoparticles as photocatalysts in the UV-induced decomposition of methylene blue (MB) in aqueous media were tested and evaluated through UV–Vis spectrometry, which indicated that MB and probably other organic pollutants can be degraded using the nano particles.