Facile Synthesis of Imidazole based Ionic Liquid Supported CdWO₄/TiO₂ for Superior Photo and Electrocatalytic Applications

In this article photo and electrochemically active CdWO₄/TiO₂ (HMIB/CdWO₄-TiO₂) nanocomposite was synthesized with the aid of imidazole based ionic liquid 1-Hexyl-3-methyl-2-(2-oxo-ethyl)-3H-imidazol-1-ium bromide (HMIB) by simple cost free hydrothermal method. The synthesised nanocomposite’s shape and crystalline size were examined using High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HR–TEM), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE–SEM), and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). UV–Vis Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (DRS) and Photoluminescence Spectroscopy (PL) were used to examine the photoexcitation efficiency of compounds. By using BET surface area analysis, the surface area of the produced nanomaterial has been compared. From the results it has been found that the very porous structure can be seen in the FE-SEM pictures, and the Nano sponges are joined by a flat surface at one edge. According to the TEM pictures, the intimate connection within oxides, where particles have spherical and hexagonal shapes. In comparison to TiO₂, CdWO₄, and CdWO₄-TiO₂, the produced 5 wt% HMIB-loaded CdWO₄-TiO₂ demonstrated the greatest photo catalytic activity for the degradation of the azo dye Trypan Blue (TB) under solar light. With a degrading efficiency of 92.5%, the produced nanocomposite was found to be reusable even after four consecutive cycles, according to the results of the reusability examination.CdWO₄-TiO₂ has a surface area value of 22.2m²g⁻¹, whereas HMIB/ CdWO₄-TiO₂ has a greater value of 39.4m²g⁻¹. Additionally, this CdWO₄-TiO₂ assisted by HMIB displays greater electro catalytic activity for methanol electro oxidation in alkaline medium than TiO₂ and CdWO₄-TiO₂, indicating its promising potential as the anode catalyst in direct methanol fuel cells. This work provides a simple synthesis approach for new photocatalysts with enhanced photocatalytic activity and electrochemical methanol oxidation.