Type-II ternary BiWO/rGO/SnFeO heterojunction nanocomposites and their photocatalytic efficiency towards 4-nitrophenol reduction

• Published in: RSC advances Vol. 13; no. 32; pp. 22616 - 22629
• Main Authors: Narayanan, Vani, Mandal, Badal Kumar
• Format: Journal Article
• Published: 26.07.2023
• ISSN: 2046-2069
• DOI: 10.1039/d3ra03647b

In this study, tin ferrite (SnFe 2 O 4 -spinel) and bismuth tungstate (Bi 2 WO 6 ) encapsulated on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) were synthesised using the hydrothermal method. This heterostructure nanocomposite was characterised using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), FT-Raman Spectroscopy (FT-Raman) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) methods. The powder XRD results showed an increase in lattice parameters and a decrease in size when SnFe 2 O 4 and Bi 2 WO 6 were encapsulated on rGO. The catalytic activity of the type-II ternary Bi 2 WO 6 /rGO/SnFe 2 O 4 heterojunction nanocomposite was checked using a model reduction reaction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) to 4-aminophenol (4-AP) in the presence of NaBH 4 as the reducing agent under light exposure. Bi 2 WO 6 /rGO/SnFe 2 O 4 showed better catalytic efficiency than the individual components like SnFe 2 O 4 , rGO/SnFe 2 O 4 , Bi 2 WO 6 , rGO/Bi 2 WO 6 and Bi 2 WO 6 /SnFe 2 O 4 nanocomposites. Thus, the type-II ternary Bi 2 WO 6 /rGO/SnFe 2 O 4 heterojunction nanocatalyst with better surface area and lower surface energy could be considered as a promising UV-light sensitive catalyst for the detoxification of various environmental pollutants and for other environmental remediations. Type-II ternary Bi 2 WO 6 /rGO/SnFe 2 O 4 heterojunction nanocomposites were synthesized using a hydrothermal method for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol photocatalytically in the presence of excess NaBH 4 .