Leidenfrost green synthesis method for MoO3 and WO3 nanorods preparation: characterization and methylene blue adsorption ability

Abstract

Environmental pollution is a critical issue due to its impact on humans and other organisms. An important demand nowadays is the need for a green method to synthesize nanoparticles to remove pollutants. Therefore, this study focuses for the first time on synthesizing the MoO3 and WO3 nanorods using the green and self-assembled Leidenfrost method. The XRD, SEM, BET and FTIR analyses were used to characterize the yield powder. The XRD results emphasize the formation of WO3 and MoO3 in nanoscale with crystallite sizes 46.28 and 53.05 nm and surface area 2.67 and 24.72 m2 g−1, respectively. A comparative study uses synthetic nanorods as adsorbents to adsorb methylene blue (MB) in aqueous solutions. A batch adsorption experiment was performed to investigate the effects of adsorbent doses, shaking time, solution pH and dye concentration to remove MB dye. The results demonstrate that the optimal removal was achieved at pH 2 and 10 with 99% for WO3 and MoO3, respectively. The experimental isothermal data follow Langmuir for both adsorbents with a maximum adsorption capacity of 102.37 and 151.41 mg g−1 for WO3 and MoO3.