Rapid adsorption and simultaneous photocatalytic effect of Ru doped flowerlike antimony tungstate

Abstract Ruthenium (Ru) doped antimony tungstate microflower (ATMF), prepared through hydrothermal pro-
cess, have been investigated for simultaneous adsorption and photocatalysis. The pattern of evolution of
microflower structures however can be tailored by the synthesis period. This change is observed from the
field effect scanning electron microscope (FESEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) images. A
possible mechanism behind this morphological change has been developed. An argument based on zeta po-
tential may be responsible for this distinct morphology due to the strong electrostatic interactions. The
variation of a particular X-ray diffraction (XRD) peak corresponding to the plane {012} with variation of Ru
doping percentage shows the decrease in crystallinity along the perpendicular direction to this plane. Besides,
the optimum Ru doping percentage is evaluated on the basis of photocatalytic efficiency towards methylene
blue (MB) degradation under the visible light. The highest dye removal efficiency is observed for 2% Ru
doped Sb 2 WO 6 (SWO) adsorbing 97% of the MB dye followed by photocatalytic degrading almost 64% of
the remaining dye in 80 minutes. Further, using different dyes, it is concluded that Ru-SWO showcases high
adsorption towards the cationic dyes while it neither adsorbs the anionic dye nor displays photocatalytic
degradation.