Construction and characterization of CoWO4/g-C3N4 composites for efficient sonocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B

• Published in: Journal of materials science. Materials in electronics 2022-12, Vol.33 (34), p.25589-25602
• Main Authors: Gao, Qizhi, Sun, Guangzhuang, Ling, Runze, Cai, Yang, Wang, Anrong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bisphenol A; Carbon nitride; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Composite materials; Degradation; Efficiency; Experiments; Materials Science; Optical and Electronic Materials; Optical properties; Photocatalysis; Pollutants; Polyacrylamide; Rhodamine; Spectrum analysis; Ultrasonic imaging; Wastewater treatment; Water treatment
• ISSN: 0957-4522; 1573-482X
• DOI: 10.1007/s10854-022-09257-8

In this paper, CoWO 4 /g-C 3 N 4 composites with efficient sonocatalytic activity were fabricated by a modified polyacrylamide gel route combined with a facile ultrasound-assisted process. A variety of characterization methods have been adopted to confirm the phase purity, charge state, morphology, optical property, and sonocatalytic activity of CoWO 4 /g-C 3 N 4 composites. The sonocatalytic activities of as-prepared composites were evaluated by the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB). The high sonocatalytic degradation efficiency (84.8%) was achieved over 1 g/L CoWO 4 /g-C 3 N 4 (7 wt%) composites and 10 mg/L RhB solution under ultrasonic irradiation (180 W, 40 kHz) for 180 min. The degradation efficiency of RhB over CoWO 4 /g-C 3 N 4 (7 wt%) sonocatalyst is 6.6 times as high as that of pure CoWO 4 . Trapping experiments reveal that the sonocatalytic decomposition of RhB was mainly due to the production of superoxide radicals. A possible sonodegradation mechanism was proposed based on the sonocatalytic experiments, and stability and reusability of CoWO 4 /g-C 3 N 4 composites were also studied. The CoWO 4 /g-C 3 N 4 composites as an efficient sonocatalyst for the catalytic degradation of RhB have great potential in wastewater treatment. This work will provide a valuable reference for the construction and application of composite sonocatalysts.