Synergistic RB5 dye degradation and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysis by WO3 nano-pellets: mechanistic insights and water remediation applications

Abstract

Transition metal oxides (TMO), a non-noble element based oxides, establish remarkable potential in the realm of textile wastewater remediation and water splitting due to their sustainable catalytic performance. Highly functional TMO materials, in form of nanostrcutures, are of great interest owing to their robust photo and electro-catalytic activities for instituting sustainable development for the water and energy resource management framework. In the present article, we have reported catalytically active WO3 nano-pellets (NP) synthesized using microwave-assisted for photocatalytic wastewater remediation and electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Promisingly, WO3 NP abetted degradation of the reactive black 5 (RB5) dye by almost 95 % in short time interval of 60 min in exposer of sun light. Present work includes the strategies to remove and observe the progression of reaction kinetics of dye degradation in neutral and alkaline media. By varying concentration of the catalyst (ranging from 250 mg/L to 1000 mg/L, in the step of 250 mg/L), we have prolifically verified that 750 mg/L turn out optimal dosage for 100% degradation in time interval of 120 min. Besides, WO3 NP has shown highest photocatalytic behaviour at 9 pH. The WO3 NP shows the electrocatalytic OER performance in an alkaline condition (1M KOH) with an overpotential of 418 mV to generate the geometric current density of 10 mA/cm² and Tafel slope of 178 mV dec⁻¹. Owing to robust nature, WO3 NP shows the almost similar photocatalytic response for ten cycles dye degradation and demonstrates the stable electrochemical charge transport for OER at 10 mA/cm2 for 50 hours.