Facile synthesis of multifunctional C@Fe3O4-MoO3-rGO ternary composite and its versatile roles as sonoadsorbent to ameliorate triphenylmethane textile dye and as potential electrode for supercapacitor applications

• Main Authors: Thomas, Paul, Lai, Chin Wei, Johan, Mohd Rafie
• Format: Article
• Published: Academic Press Inc Elsevier Science 2022
• Subjects: GE Environmental Sciences
• Online Access: http://eprints.um.edu.my/41719/

The toxic wastewater effluents from textile dyes have been a significant environmental threat worldwide in recent decades. Against this backdrop, this study investigates the performance of C@Fe3O4-MoO3-rGO as a sonoadsorbent to ameliorate crystal violet (CV) dye from the aqua matrix and further explores its potential as an electrode in supercapacitor applications. The phase purity, crystal structure, surface morphology, thermal stability and magnetic behaviour characteristics of the composite were studied using various characterisation techniques such as powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman Spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Vibrating-sample magnetometry (VSM). From the Langmuir isotherm model, the synthesised sonoadsorbent exhibited a maximum adsorption capacity of 1664.26 mg/g for crystal violet, which is remarkably high. Further, to its inherited magnetic characteristics, the composite can be easily separated from the solution by using an external magnet. Furthermore, the working electrode was synthesised with 80% active material, 10% carbon black, and 10% polyvinylidene difluoride to investigate its suitability in supercapacitor applications. The C@Fe3O4-MoO3-rGO composite exhibited an excellent capacitance value of 180.36 F/g with commendable cycling stability, making it suitable as a potential cathode material for the next generation supercapacitors.