Photocatalytic properties of PbMoO4 synthesized by co-precipitation method: organic dyes degradation under UV irradiation

• DOI: 10.1007/s11164-011-0420-x
• Publication Date: 2011-10-21T10:13:27Z
• Authors: D. B. Hernández-U...; A. Martínez-de la...; Leticia M. Torres...
• Keywords: 01 natural sciences; 0104 chemical sciences

PbMoO4 molybdate with scheelite structure was synthesized by a simple co-precipitation method. The material was characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), and adsorption–desorption N2 isotherms (BET). The photocatalytic activity of PbMoO4 molybdate was evaluated with the degradation reactions of rhodamine B (rhB), indigo carmine (IC), orange G (OG), and methyl orange (MO) under UV irradiation. In order to elucidate aspects of the degradation mechanism of the organic dyes, some experimental variables were modified such as pH and O2 level in solution. The total organic carbon (TOC) analysis of samples irradiated revealed that mineralization of organic dyes by the action of PbMoO4 was feasible in rhB (60%), IC (80%), and OG (65%) after 96 h of irradiation. For the same time of irradiation, a recalcitrant behavior to the mineralization was observed in MO reaching only a 10% of mineralization degree.