Synthesis of a novel visible-light active Gd2O3/GdVO4/V2O5 photocatalyst for rapid purification of industrial wastewater containing organic dyes and bacteria

In the past decades, population growth and industrial development have posed a significant threat to the aquatic environment and water pollution, considerably influencing our living standards. In the present study, novel visible light-responsive nano photocatalysts Gd2O3/GdVO4/V2O5 were synthesized by mechanical alloying and sintered at different elevated temperatures. All the structural and microstruc-tural parameters of the mechanosynthesized C12.6N0.6VO3 phase have been modified from the reported values. XRD, TEM, SEM, XPS, and FTIR are employed to characterize the as-obtained nanocomposites with elemental mapping. The surface or grain boundary defects, bandgap, and Urbach energy of the nanocom-posites are revealed by diffused reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) and BET analysis. The photodegradation and quantum efficiency of the samples are investigated by analyzing UV-Vis spectra, using Rhodamine B (RhB), Congo Red (CR), and Methylene Blue (MB) as model organic dye pollutants. Experimental results reflect that the 5 h milled and sintered sample shows better photocatalytic degradation efficiency of almost 100% within 150 min -nearly twice that of pure precursor materials. Scavenger tests ensure the oxidative radical species involved in the photodegradation mechanism. The antibacterial study reveals that the Gd2O3/GdVO4/V2O5 nanocomposite efficiently prohibits gram-positive bacterial growth in the wastewater. These Gd2O3 /GdVO4 /V2O5 nanocomposites may be utilized as an efficient tool for wastewater treatment in industrial areas and prohibiting bacterial growth in wastewater.(c) 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.