CeVO 4 /Bentonite nanocomposite as a dual-functional photocatalytic adsorbent: One-step hydrothermal synthesis for enhanced water-soluble pollutant degradation

Abstract Cerium vanadate/Bentonite (CeVO4/bt) nanocomposite with different composition percentages was synthesized through a simple one-step hydrothermal method at 180 ℃ then photocatalytic activity was evaluated by decolorizing methylene blue (MB) in an aqueous solution under light exposure. The structural and optical properties of the synthesized composites were determined by XRD, FT-IR, DRS, FESEM, EDS, and BET measurements. XRD and EDS results confirmed the successful synthesis of CeVO4. The calculated band gap energy for modified cerium vanadate/bentonite (CeVO4/mbt) was the lowest among all, indicating its more appropriateness for photocatalytic removal of MB dye. nanoparticles were well distributed on bentonite. Due to the synergistic effects, the MB removal efficiency (for just 0.1 g) of CeVO4/mbt nanocomposite was significantly increased (99% in 15 min) compared with neat bentonite, CeVO4, and CeVO4/bt samples. The mineralization degree of MB dye was also studied which obtained 61% for CeVO4/mbt sample. The mentioned nanocomposite followed the first order kinetics and constant speed equal to 0.957 min-1 and showed acceptable stability in five consecutive cycles. This research presents a simple approach to creating novel, very efficient modified nanocomposites for use in photocatalysis applications.