Ce‐Doped MoO3 Photocatalyst as an Environmental Purifier for Removal of Noxious Rhodamine B Organic Pollutant in Wastewater

Abstract

Wastewater treatment and management have been hot topics for the past three decades. Water reuse can help to alleviate the problems of water shortage and wastewater treatment in practice. Water can be used for household uses once the organic contaminants are removed. In this research, bare MoO3 and Ce‐doped MoO3 are fabricated using a straightforward hydrothermal method for wastewater treatment. The different analytical techniques are utilized to study the physiochemical features of all the synthesized products. Rhodamine B (RhB) is reduced photocatalytically under exposure of visible light to ascertain the possible capacity. The photocatalytic results suggest that the photoreduction of RhB with 2% Ce‐doped MoO3 exhibits a greater photocatalytic activity of 91.83% than the pure and other doped materials. The kinetic study of 2% Ce‐doped MoO3 displays the greater rate constant of 0.0163 min−1 and a lower Rct value of 0.95 Ω. The research indicates that the doping approach is a very effective way to decrease the bandgap and boost RhB's photocatalytic reduction. Other environmental and water‐related problems can be solved using Ce‐doped MoO3's improved physical and structural characteristics.