Synthesis of Ag2O/CaMoO4 S-type heterojunction with enhanced sonocatalytic performance to remove crystal violet in dye wastewater

Abstract

Herein, an S-type of Ag2O/CaMoO4 heterojunction was prepared by combining CaMoO4 with Ag2O and characterized. The sonocatalytic performance of the Ag2O/CaMoO4 composite was evaluated by analyzing the degradation of basic dye crystal violet (CV). The results showed that the Ag2O/CaMoO4 composite had the best sonocatalytic performance when the molar ratio of Ag2O to CaMoO4 in the Ag2O/CaMoO4 composite was 10 %. When the ultrasonic time was 120 min, the ultrasonic power was 200 W, the addition amount of 10 % Ag2O/CaMoO4 composite was 1.00 g/L and the initial concentration of CV solution was 5 mg/L, the removal rate of CV could reach 97.36 ± 1.46(%). In addition, 10 % Ag2O/CaMoO4 composite showed excellent sonocatalytic degradation performance to cationic dyes Rhodamine B (RhB) and methylene blue (MB), anionic dye Orange II (AO II) and azo dye Congo red (CR), indicating that the catalyst had a wide range of application. The study on the mechanism of sonocatalysis showed that the construction of S-type Ag2O/CaMoO4 heterojunction effectively separated the electron-hole (e−-h+) pairs in the sonocatalysis process, significantly improved the sonocatalytic performance of CaMoO4, and effectively degraded CV, and the degradation of CV was caused by the active components such as h+, superoxide anion radical (O2–) and hydroxyl radical (OH). Furthermore, the 10% Ag2O/CaMoO4 composite showed excellent repeatability and stability. In addition, the sonocatalytic degradation products of CV were detected and the possible degradation pathways of CV were summarized. These results suggested that the Ag2O/CaMoO4 composite was an extremely appropriate sonocatalyst for sonocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants and would provide a valuable research basis for the development of efficient sonocatalysts.