Facile Green Synthesis of La-Doped WO3 Nanomaterials for Their Photocatalytic Activity against Hazardous Pharmaceutical Compounds: Experimental and COMSOL Simulation

This research work reports the simple synthesis of Pure and La-doped WO3 NPs via a green method by varying concentrations of Lanthanum (1%, 2%, 3%,4%, and 5%) for degradation of Metformin (Glucophage). Pure and La-doped WO3 NPs have been evaluated for photocatalytic and antimicrobial activity. The XRD analysis investigated the hexagonal crystalline structure and phase composition of the synthesized material. UV-visible analysis calculates the bandgap energy of WO3 and La (1-5%) doped WO3 that differ from 2.75 to 2.47 eV. A decrease in the intensity of La doped WO3 (4%) indicated a decline in the rate recombination of electron-hole pair, which is useful for photocatalytic activity. FTIR spectroscopy verified the presence of tungsten and oxygen substances. La doped WO3 (4%) catalyst shows optimal results due to maximal degradation of 93% within 150 min. Pathogenic bacterial (E. coli and Staphylococcus) and fungal (Fusarium spp. and Rosellinia necatrix) strains were tested for antimicrobial activity using WO3 and La-S-4 nanoparticles. The experimental findings of photocatalytic activity have been correlated with COMSOL modeling in the current work, which is extremely distinctive.