Ultrasonic wave-assisted synthesis of CeO₂-MoO₃ nanocomposite for photo-Fenton degradation of Rhodamine-B dye

The highly crystalline mesoporous series of various percentages such as 1, 3 and 5% of CeO₂-doped MoO₃ nanocomposite were synthesized successfully by using ultrasonic wave-assisted sol–gel synthesis procedure and calcined at 873 K for 3 h. The synthesized CeO₂-MoO₃ nanocomposite material characterized by different techniques like XRD, Raman, FT-IR, FE-SEM, HR-TEM, BET, XPS and UV-DRS measurements to find crystallinity, surface morphology, surface area, structural and optical properties. Among these, 5% CeO₂-MoO₃ nanocomposite shows excellent photo-Fenton dye degradation activity of Rhodamine-B (Rh-B) dye in visible light irradiation using direct sunlight. Maximum degradation was observed (95.36% in 120 min) with optimum condition of pH, catalyst amount and H₂O₂ concentration. These nanocomposite material was recovered, recycle and its reusability also gives excellent results up to the 4th cycle. Similarly, turn over number, turn over frequency, kinetic study and scavenger study of photo-Fenton degradation reaction were also discussed.