Synthesis and Characterizations of Molybdenum Doped Losod Zeolite for Photocatalytic Dye Degradation and Hydrogen Production /

Abstract

This research investigates the synthesis and application of Losod-zeolite (LOS-Z), a crystalline hydrated sodium aluminosilicate (Na12Al12Si12O48.xH2O) as a potential photocatalyst for dye degradation and H2 production from dye-degraded water. The photocatalytic properties are enhanced by impregnating molybdenum (Mo) into LOS-Z (Mo@LOS-Z). XRD, FTIR, SEM, EDX, and elemental mapping were used to study the physiochemical properties of synthesized materials while UV-vis and PL were employed to explore the optoelectronic properties. The photocatalytic activities for dye degradation and H2 production were evaluated using methylene blue (MB) under visible light irradiation. An enhancement in the efficiency of dye degradation (56% to 82%) and H2 production rate was demonstrated due to the competitive photocatalytic performance of 10% Mo@LOS-Z compared to the pristine LOS-Z and CFA-BFA blend. It exhibited 2.5 times higher (~1200 µmol g-1 h -1 ) H2 production than the LOS-Z (~480 µmol g-1 h -1 ) due to the synergistic effects of narrowed band gap and recombination rate. This study could pave the way forward into the synthesis of waste-derived photocatalysts for efficient dye degradation and H2 production.