Ionic liquid-assisted hydrothermal synthesis of ZnWO4 nanoparticles used for photocatalytic applications

Abstract

Here, we have successfully synthesized single-phase ZnWO4 nanoparticles using a highly effective low-temperature ionic liquid-assisted hydrothermal method at 180 °C for 24 h. TEM images show that agglomerated, irregular-shaped nanoparticles and XRD confirm the monoclinic wolframite phase of ZnWO4 with P2/c space group. The main vibrational modes for ZnWO4 are observed in the IR region from 468 to 880 cm−1 and the optical absorption peaks at 280 nm. Also, photocatalytic degradation was carried out over suspensions of ZnWO4 against Indigo Carmine (IC) dye under UV light irradiation. The effects of various operational parameters were examined and we observed that the degradation efficiency was reached up to 90% within 120 min. Hence, ZnWO4 nanoparticles are proven to be good materials for photocatalytic dye degradation application and the future of the technology. We have successfully synthesized ZnWO4 nanoparticles via ionic liquid-assisted hydrothermal method. The obtained product shows excellent photocatalytic activity against Indigo Carmine (IC) dye solution.