Decolourization of crystal violet using nano-sized novel fluorite structure Ga(2)Zr(2−x)W(x)O(7) photocatalyst under visible light irradiation

Fluorite-type Zr-based oxides with the composition Ga(2)Zr(2−x)W(x)O(7) (x = 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.15 and 0.2) were prepared using the citrate technique. Appropriate characterizations of all prepared materials were carried out. X-ray diffraction clarified that the undoped and W-doped Ga(2)Zr(2)O(7) samples were crystallized in the cubic fluorite phase structure. The average particle size of the samples was in the range of 3–8 nm. The lowest band gap (1.7 eV) and the highest surface area (124.3 m(2) g(−1)) were recorded for Ga(2)Zr(0.85)W(0.15)O(7.) The photocatalytic impacts of the prepared systems were studied by removal of crystal violet (CV) dye employing visible light illumination and taking into consideration the initial dye concentrations, duration of visible irradiation treatment, catalysts dose and the dopant concentration. The obtained results showed higher dye removal with the boost of the catalyst dosage. W doping shifted the absorption to the visible light range by decreasing the band gap from 4.95 eV for parent Ga(2)Zr(2)O(7) to 1.7 eV for 15 mol% tungsten-doped Ga(2)Zr(2)O(7) enhancing the photocatalytic decolourization of CV from 4.2% to 83.6% for undoped and 15 mol% W-doped Ga(2)Zr(2)O(7), respectively, at optimum operating conditions (pH 9, 1 g l(−1) catalyst dose and 300 min) while heavily doped W sample containing 20 mol% W showed lower removal than 15 mol% W-doped Ga(2)Zr(2)O(7). Complete CV degradation using 15 mol% W-doped Ga(2)Zr(2)O(7) was attained with the assistance of 25 mmol l(−1) hydrogen peroxide. The reaction is aligned to pseudo-first-order kinetics. Different scavengers were introduced to decide the significance of the reactive species in CV degradation. [Formula: see text] and h(+) had the major role in the degradation of CV by Ga(2)Zr(2−x)W(x)O(7) system compared with HO(•).