Designing of waste fruit peels extracted cellulose supported molybdenum sulfide nanostructures for photocatalytic degradation of RhB dye and industrial effluent

Abstract

Waste fruit peels which are usually discarded as agricultural wastes were utilized to isolate cellulose. The varied amount of isolated cellulose was used as sustainable support with hydrothermally synthesized molybdenum sulphide (MoS₂) nano-petals via in-situ approach. The phase purity of all synthesized nanostructures was confirmed by PXRD whereas different oxidation states along with the interaction of cellulose with the MoS₂ were examined by XPS analysis. In order to evaluate the performance of catalyst, the photodegradation rate was calculated for RhB dye as well as industrial effluent in visible light. The upgradation in photocatalytic competence was found significant by cellulose supported MoS₂ nanostructures as compared to bare MoS₂ nano-petals due to slow recombination of electron hole pairs. The maximum rate was pronounced by employing the cellulose at an amount of ~500 mg as a support due to existence of an optimal point where the delay in charge recombination reaches maximum.

Keywords: Industrial effluents; Isolation; MoS(2) nanostructures; Photocatalysis; Waste management.