Abstract
Herein, we report the successful surfactant free synthesis, characterization and visible light driven photocatalytic application of highly crystalline cobalt tungstate (CoWO4) nanoparticles. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by several techniques which revealed that CoWO4 exhibited monoclinic phase of Wolframite structure, possess high crystallinity and grown in very high density. As the tungstate nanomaterials are hardly investigated as visible light responsive photocatalyst for the removal of organic pollutants in aqueous phase, thus, in this paper the photocatalytic efficiency of cobalt tungstate nanoparticles was estimated by monitoring the degradation of brilliant green dye under visible light irradiation. Approximately 94% brilliant green dye was degraded within 120 min of visible light illumination. Hydroxyl radicals were held to be accountable for the excellent photocatalytic performance. The present study offers an innovative approach stating that metal tungstates can also be considered as proficient visible light responsive photocatalysts for the degradation of hazardous organic contaminants from aqueous phase.
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•Facile hydrothermal synthesis of CoWO4 nanoparticles.•Excellent crystallinity, high purity and optical properties.•Exceptional photocatalytic degradation of brilliant green dye.•Estimation of hydroxyl radicals in the photocatalytic system.