Electrospun niobium oxide 1D nanostructures and their applications in textile industry wastewater treatment

Abstract

The textile industry emits daily massive amounts of sewage rich in non-biodegradable organic compounds, especially in textile dyes. Such contaminants are highly soluble in water, which makes their removal difficult. Other studies suggest their carcinogenicity, toxicity, and mutagenicity. A promising chemical treatment of textile wastewater is the photodegradation of dye molecules in the process of photocatalysis in the presence of a photocatalyst. One-dimensional nanostructures exhibit a high surface-to-volume ratio and a quantum confinement effect, making them ideal candidates for nanophotocatalyst material. Nb2O5 is gaining popularity in optical applications among other metal oxides with a wide band gap, and electrospun niobium oxide nanostructures, despite their ease and low cost, can increase the chemical removal of textile dyes from wastewater. Facile synthesis of electrospun one-dimensional niobium oxide nanofibers is presented. The nanophotocatalysts morphology, structure, chemical bonds and optical properties were examined. Based on photodegradation of aqueous solutions (ph = 6) of methylene blue and rhodamine B, the photocatalytic activity was established. The photocatalytic efficiency after 180 minutes of ultraviolet irradiation in the presence of Nb2O5 nanofibers was as follows: 84.9% and 31.8% for methylene blue and rhodamine B decolorization, respectively.