Progesterone photoelectrocatalytic degradation on NiWO4|CoWO4 homojunction film

This work describes the investigation of the photoelectrochemical response and photocatalytic activity of homojunction NiWO4|CoWO4 films as a photoanode for progesterone removal in wastewater. The junction of semiconductor films is a strategy that aims to reduce charge recombination and favor the photocatalytic activity of the material. The bare and coupled films were deposited by drop-casting from polymeric resin. The structural, morphological, and optical properties were studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and UV-Vis spectroscopy, respectively. The bare and coupled nanostructured films showed irregular morphological, monoclinic structure and optical properties in the visible region in the spectrum. Compared with NiWO4 and CoWO4|NiWO4 films, NiWO4|CoWO4 film showed enhanced photoelectrochemical response (27μA cm−2 at 0.7 V vs. Ag/AgCl) and efficient photoelectrocatalytic performance for progesterone degradation under polychromatic light irradiation. The favorable position of the edge of the conduction and valence bands helps in the charge transfer process, increasing the lifetime charge recombination to 19.7 s. According to the results, after applying the polarization potential in the photoelectrocatalytic process, the photodegradation efficiency of the drug progesterone was verified for approximately 150 minutes, showing that 92 % of progesterone was photodegraded on NiWO4|CoWO4 homojunction film. Furthermore, the film remained active for 3 reuse cycles. •NiWO4|CoWO4 homojunction electrode was prepared by simple polymeric method.•NiWO4|CoWO4 showed enhanced photoelectrochemical properties.•92 % progesterone was degraded by photoelectrocatalysis on NiWO4|CoWO4 at 150 min.•NiWO4|CoWO4 photoelectrocatalyst remained active for 3 reuse cycles.