A novel WO 3 sonocatalyst for treatment of rhodamine B under ultrasonic irradiation

Abstract

Pure WO₃ powder was prepared from a simple method and applied into sonocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B (RhB), the model compound. The structure and properties of samples were characterized by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) absorption spectroscopy, and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. We studied the effects of WO₃ on the sonocatalytic degradation of RhB and the operational parameters such as catalyst dosage and RhB concentration. The experimental results showed that the best sonocatalytic degradation ratio (59.39%) of organic dyes could be obtained when the optimal conditions of 10.00-mg/L initial concentration, 3.00-g/L prepared WO₃ powder added amount, 99-W ultrasound output power, and 270-min ultrasonic irradiation were adopted. Under ultrasonic conditions, the degradation rate after addition of WO₃ reached the highest activity of 57.9%, and about three times the rate of degradation was not added. Abundant ·OH was induced by WO₃ powder under ultrasonic irradiation, which may be the main contributor to the high sonodegradation rate.