Interfacial coupling of CuWO4 nanoparticles on NiAl LDH as a novel photoctalyst for dissolved organic dye degradation

• CuWO 4 combined with LDH to construct a heterojunction • The wettability of photocatalyst facilitated the MB decomposition • The heterojunction can create the synergistic effects of different components • The LCW5 nanocomposite exhibited high dye degradation capabilities • Due to the heterogeneous nature of LDH/CuWO 4 it can be reused. The NiAl LDH/CuWO 4 (LCW) nanocomposites were successfully synthesized by in-situ hydrothermal method and utilized as a photocatalyst for decomposition of methylene blue (MB) dye. The physicochemical properties of all samples were characterized by XRD, FTIR, FE-SEM, HR-TEM, XPS, UV-DRS, and PL techniques. The photogenerated charge carrier recombination was measured by using photoelectrochemical (I-t, EIS and M-S) measurements. The heterojunction nanocomposite created by combining CuWO 4 with LDH promoted the separation of photo-generated carriers, resulting in improved catalytic performance. The emission of undesirable dye waste from textile industrial in the environment is a major concern of environmental pollution and toxicity. In this context, we used the LDH and CuWO 4 based nanocomposites for MB decomposition. Among the prepared samples, LDH with 5% CuWO 4 (LCW5) exhibited 87.5% degradation of initial MB concentration, whereas, photodegradation of MB is 19.8% without any catalyst under visible light illumination for five hours. The stability of the photocatalyst was detected in three consecutive cycles and it showed good stability. Fig. Photocatalytic mechanism of LCW composites for degradation of MB under light irradiation.