title: Photoelectrocatalytic degradation of oxalic acid using WO3and stratified WO3/TiO2photocatalysts under sunlight illumination.
abstract: The WO3and stratified WO3/TiO2thin films are successfully prepared by the spray pyrolysis method. The structural, morphological, compositional and photoelectrocatalytic properties of WO3and stratified WO3/TiO2thin films are studied. XRD analysis confirms that films are polycrystalline with monoclinic and tetragonal crystal structures for WO3and TiO2respectively. The SEM images clearly show 3D sheeted porous structure of the as-prepared TiO2forms on WO3in stratified WO3/TiO2samples. The synthesized photoelectrodes was used as catalyst for photoelectrocatalytic degradation of oxalic acid in aqueous medium. The rate constant (k) was evaluated as a function of the initial concentration of species. A significant decrease in concentrations of organic species was observed from COD analysis. The photoelectrocatalytic degradation effect is relatively higher in the case of the stratified WO3/TiO2than WO3thin film photoelectrode in the degradation of oxalic acid and 83% removal efficiency of oxalic acid is obtained after 180min. Based on the obtained experimental data, the possible photoelectrocatalytic reaction mechanism was proposed. The photoelectrocatalytic experimental results indicate that stratified WO3/TiO2photoelectrode is the promising material for removing of water pollutants.
authors.affiliation: Electrochemical Materials Laboratory, Department of Physics, Shivaji University, Kolhapur 416 004, India.
authors.forename: Y M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Hunge
authors.affiliation: Division of Biotechnology, Chonbuk National University, Iksan 570-752, South Korea.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Mahadik
authors.affiliation: Electrochemical Materials Laboratory, Department of Physics, Shivaji University, Kolhapur 416 004, India.
authors.forename: A V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Moholkar
authors.affiliation: Electrochemical Materials Laboratory, Department of Physics, Shivaji University, Kolhapur 416 004, India. Electronic address: chbhosale@gmail.com.
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Bhosale
keywords: Chemical oxygen demand (COD); Oxalic acid (OA); Stratified WO(3)/TiO(2) thin film