Publications Repository - Gdańsk University of Technology

In the present study, alkaline-earth metal scheelite-type compounds ABO4 (A = Ca, Sr, Ba, B = Mo, W) synthesized by a hydrothermal method were systematically studied. The as-obtained photocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area analysis (BET), UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DR/UV-Vis), photoluminescence, and thermoluminescence (TL) spectroscopy together with charge carrier’s lifetime measurements, electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy (EPR) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The photocatalytic activity was studied in the reaction of phenol degradation under simulated solar light. The obtained tungstates and molybdates revealed excellent photocatalytic activity despite the low surface area and wide-bandgap typical for insulators. The mechanism of phenol degradation proceeded through hydroquinone and catechol formation in the presence of hydroxyl and superoxide radicals. The presence of electron traps allowed to absorb light with lower energy than resulting from the absorption edge. BaWO4 and SrWO4, with the most extended average carrier lifetime, were the most efficient photocatalysts from obtained series. In general, molybdates exhibited lower photocatalytic activity towards phenol degradation due to deeper trap states and lower average charge carriers' lifetimes than tungstates. Additionally, electrochemical studies emerged that molybdates exhibit more insulating behavior than tungstates. Overall results showed that wide-bandgap semiconductors, mainly tungstates, can be applied as earth-abundant photocatalytic materials for the degradation of persistent organic pollutants.

Authors

• mgr inż. Marta Kowalkińska link open in new tab ,
• Paweł Głuchowski,
• Tomasz Swebocki,
• prof. dr hab. inż. Tadeusz Ossowski,
• Adam Ostrowski,
• Waldemar Bednarski,
• dr hab. inż. Jakub Karczewski link open in new tab ,
• prof. dr hab. inż. Anna Zielińska-Jurek link open in new tab