Photodecoration of tungsten oxide nanoparticles onto eggshell as an ultra-fast adsorbent for removal of MB dye pollutant

Abstract

Nowadays, the use of natural wastes and adsorbents along with their modification by simple and new methods based on metal oxides to remove dye pollutants has been the focus of many researchers. In this study, for the first time, simple and low-cost modification of eggshell (EGS) with tungsten oxide (WO3) based on the photochemical modification method as a green, ultra-fast, cost-effective, and biodegradable adsorbent is reported to remove of methylene blue (MB) dye pollutant. The EGS modified by WO3 was investigated by EDX, EDX mapping, XRD, FE-SEM, and UV–Vis Diffuse Reflectance (DRS) analyses. The obtained results show that the modified EGS by WO3 has more than ten times (78.5%) the ability to remove MB dye pollutant within 3 min compared to bare EGS (11%). Various parameters including dye pollutant pH, dye concentration, adsorbent dosage, and reusability of the WO3/EGS adsorbent for removal of MB dye pollutant were investigated and the result show that the adsorbent capacity of WO3/EGS is 1.64 mg g−1. EGS adsorbent The synthesis of WO3/EGS adsorbent with a novel photochemical method as a fast and very cheap adsorbent with excellent efficiency can be a promising alternative adsorbent for various purposes in removing dye pollutants from water environments.