Facile synthesis of niobium oxide as an effective catalytic material for degradation of methylene blue dye

Niobium is considered to have a good resistance in various chemical environments. However, during the corrosion process, a dense product that forms on the surface was used here as a catalyst for the degradation of the methylene blue dye. The niobium catalyst was formed at room temperature (28 & DEG;-30 & DEG;C) by simple precipitation using immersion of sample in an alkali medium. X-ray diffraction spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy confirmed the synthesis of Na8Nb6O19.13H(2)O and its octahedral shape, respectively. Thermogravimetry analysis indicated the thermal stability of the synthesized catalyst. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopic data show the presence of sodium, niobium and oxygen elements in the prepared catalyst. Methylene blue was degraded effectively (90%) and the process obeys the pseudo-first-order kinetics and the degradation was completed in 0.9934 min(-1).