Sm2MoO6-TiO2-bentonite as an active electrocatalyst toward electrochemical oxygen evolution reaction and effective photocatalyst for ciprofloxacin removal

Abstract

Herein, we reported hydrothermal synthesis of Sm2MoO6-TiO2-bentonite nanocomposite (SMTB) and its application as a higher efficient electrocatalyst and photocatalyst. The as-prepared SMTB active catalysts for greater electrocatalytic activity with a low overpotential value of 347 mV to achieve a current density of 10 mA cm−2 in 1.0 M KOH for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The corresponding slope of the Tafel plot is as low as 53 mV dec−1 compared to other catalysts such as Sm2MoO6 (SM), TiO2 and Sm2MoO6-TiO2 (SMT). Also investigated the very stable performance of the SMTB electrode using cyclic voltammetry (CV), and the results reveal negligible loss in electrochemical activity for 1000 CV cycles. Furthermore, the SMTB photocatalytic performance has been demonstrated by degradation of the pharmaceutical pollutant ciprofloxacin (CF). The photocatalytic performance has been further investigated for optimum catalyst dosage, pH of the reaction medium and stability of the catalysts.