Application of CdTe/CdS/ZnS core/multi-shell QDs as a high-performance nanocatalyst for degradation of methylene blue from water

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of physics, Science Faculty, Vali-E-Asr University of Rafsanjan, Rafsanjan, Iran

2 Department of physics, Science Faculty, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran

Abstract

The application of nanocatalysts for the removal of dyes from industries' wastewater and effluents has attracted great attention these days. In this paper, CdTe/CdS/ZnS core/multi-shell quantum dots were used as a nanocatalyst for the degradation and removal of methylene blue, methylene orange, and rhodamine b dyes from water. The obtained results showed that CdTe/CdS/ZnS nanocatalyst had excellent ability for removal of methylene blue dye from water and after 60 min reaction time, methylene blue dye was completely degraded (100%). Also, the degradation percentage of rhodamine b and methylene orange dyes was obtained at about 80.2% and 55.2%, respectively. The radical scavenger experiment was used to study which active radicals play a key role in the photocatalyst process of CdTe/CdS/ZnS nanocatalyst with methylene blue dye and results showed that electrons play a key role in the degradation process. The successful formation of CdTe/CdS/ZnS core/multi-shell QDs was studied by XRD, EDS, PL, absorbance, and TEM analysis. 

Keywords

Main Subjects


© 2023 The Author(s). Journal of Progress in Physics of Applied Materials published by Semnan University Press. This is an open access article under the CC-BY 4.0 license. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

[1] Molahosseini, E., Molaei, M., Zare, H. and Farahmandzadeh, F., 2024. A novel dark catalyst material based on Fe3O4/MWCNT/SiO2 magnetic nanocomposite for simple and ultrafast degradation of methylene blue. Materials Research Bulletin, 170, p.112571.
[2] Farahmandzadeh, F., Molaei, M., Alehdaghi, H. and Khanzadeh, M., 2023. Carbon quantum dots: synthesis and applications as turn-off fluorescence sensors for detection of Co2+ ions in water and eco-friendly catalysts for treatment of wastewater. Journal of Coordination Chemistry, pp.1-13.
[3] Yahya, N., Aziz, F., Jamaludin, N.A., Mutalib, M.A., Ismail, A.F., Salleh, W.N.W., Jaafar, J., Yusof, N. and Ludin, N.A., 2018. A review of integrated photocatalyst adsorbents for wastewater treatment. Journal of environmental chemical engineering, 6(6), pp.7411-7425.
[4] Lee, S.Y. and Park, S.J., 2013. TiO2 photocatalyst for water treatment applications. Journal of industrial and engineering chemistry, 19(6), pp.1761-1769.
[5] Malathi, A., Madhavan, J., Ashokkumar, M. and Arunachalam, P., 2018. A review on BiVO4 photocatalyst: activity enhancement methods for solar photocatalytic applications. Applied Catalysis A: General, 555, pp.47-74.
[6] Nasir, A.M., Jaafar, J., Aziz, F., Yusof, N., Salleh, W.N.W., Ismail, A.F. and Aziz, M., 2020. A review on floating nanocomposite photocatalyst: fabrication and applications for wastewater treatment. Journal of Water Process Engineering, 36, p.101300.
[7] Dutta, V., Sharma, S., Raizada, P., Thakur, V.K., Khan, A.A.P., Saini, V., Asiri, A.M. and Singh, P., 2021. An overview on WO3 based photocatalyst for environmental remediation. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 9(1), p.105018.
[8] Puma, G.L., Bono, A., Krishnaiah, D. and Collin, J.G., 2008. Preparation of titanium dioxide photocatalyst loaded onto activated carbon support using chemical vapor deposition: A review paper. Journal of hazardous Materials, 157(2-3), pp.209-219.
[9] Suty, H., De Traversay, C. and Cost, M., 2004. Applications of advanced oxidation processes: present and future. Water Science and Technology, 49(4), pp.227-233.
[10] Mandal, T., Maity, S., Dasgupta, D. and Datta, S., 2010. Advanced oxidation process and biotreatment: Their roles in combined industrial wastewater treatment. Desalination, 250(1), pp.87-94.
[11] Farahmandzadeh, F., Salehi, S., Molaei, M., Fallah, H. and Nejadshafiee, V., 2023. CdS Semiconductor Quantum Dots; Facile Synthesis, Application as Off Fluorescent Sensor for Detection of Lead (Pb2+) Ions and Catalyst for Degradation of Dyes from Water. Journal of Fluorescence, pp.1-10.
[12] Molaei, M., Farahmandzadeh, F., Mousavi, T.S. and Karimipour, M., 2022. Photochemical synthesis, investigation of optical properties and photocatalytic activity of CdTe/CdSe core/shell quantum dots. Materials Technology, 37(11), pp.1818-1824.
[13] Li, Y.S., Jiang, F.L., Xiao, Q., Li, R., Li, K., Zhang, M.F., Zhang, A.Q., Sun, S.F. and Liu, Y., 2010. Enhanced photocatalytic activities of TiO2 nanocomposites doped with water-soluble mercapto-capped CdTe quantum dots. Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, 101(1-2), pp.118-129.
[14] Farahmandzadeh, F. and Molaei, M., 2022. CdSe/CdS/ZnS core/multi-shell QDs: new microwave synthesis and applications for dye photodegradations. Journal of Coordination Chemistry, 75(3-4), pp.524-534.
[15] Wang, R., Li, B., Dong, L., Zhang, F., Fan, M. and Zhou, L., 2014. Photocatalytic activity of CdTe quantum Dots encapsulated in zeolite Y. Materials Letters, 135, pp.99-102.
[16] Farahmandzadeh, F., Molaei, M. and Karimipour, M., 2022. Ultrafast synthesis of CdTe/ZnSe semiconductor QDs by microwave method and investigation of structural, optical, and photocatalytic properties of CdTe/ZnSe QDs. Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics, pp.1-10.
[17] Li, D., Wang, S., Wang, J., Zhang, X. and Liu, S., 2013. Synthesis of CdTe/TiO2 nanoparticles and their photocatalytic activity. Materials Research Bulletin, 48(10), pp.4283-4286.
[18] Molaei, M., Farahmandzadeh, F. and Hemmati, R., 2022. Mercury (Hg2+) Detection in Aqueous Media, Photocatalyst, and Antibacterial Applications of CdTe/ZnS Quantum Dots. Journal of Fluorescence, 32(6), pp.2129-2137.
[19] Subramanian, S., Ganapathy, S. and Subramanian, S., 2022. Superior photocatalytic activities of p-CdTe QDs/n-NiTiO3 NFs system for the treatment of hazardous dye industrial effluents. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 10(1), p.106941.
[20] Benavente, E., Alegría, M., Cortés, P., Aliaga, J., Villarroel, R., Guzmán, D., Ballesteros, L. and González, G., 2023. Application of CdTe quantum dots sensitized titanate nanotubes in photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants under visible light irradiation. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 11(3), p.110025.
[21] Farahmandzadeh, F., Molaei, M., Karimipour, M. and Shamsi, A.R., 2020. Highly luminescence CdTe/ZnSe core–shell QDs; synthesis by a simple low temperature approach. Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics, 31, pp.12382-12388.
[22] Farahmandzadeh, F., Molaei, M., Alehdaghi, H. and Karimipour, M., 2022. The significant increasing photoluminescence quantum yield of the CdTe/CdS/ZnS core/multi-shell quantum dots (QDs) by 60Co gamma irradiation. Applied Physics A, 128(3), p.239.
[23] Zheng, P., Pan, Z., Li, H., Bai, B. and Guan, W., 2015. Effect of different type of scavengers on the photocatalytic removal of copper and cyanide in the presence of TiO2@ yeast hybrids. Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics, 26, pp.6399-6410.
[24] Zyoud, A., Zu’bi, A., Helal, M.H., Park, D., Campet, G. and Hilal, H.S., 2015. Optimizing photo-mineralization of aqueous methyl orange by nano-ZnO catalyst under simulated natural conditions. Journal of environmental health science and engineering, 13, pp.1-10.
[25] Talukdar, S. and Dutta, R.K., 2016. A mechanistic approach for superoxide radicals and singlet oxygen mediated enhanced photocatalytic dye degradation by selenium doped ZnS nanoparticles. RSC advances, 6(2), pp.928-936.