Bismuth Oxide/MgAl-LDH heterostructures for photocatalytic dye degradation: VESTA-based structural and electronic analysis

Metal-Layered Double Hydroxides (LDH) emerge as a pivotal solution, offering high efficiency and cost-effectiveness for the adsorption of these pollutants. Low toxicity and cost of Mg-Al LDH derived metal oxides with elevated porosity are of great interest for environmental remediation. To enhance the adsorption capabilities in wastewater, a facile surfactant-mediated sol-gel method is employed to synthesize the Bi 2 O 3 impregnated MgAl-LDH nanocomposite. This study encompasses the synthesis of pure Mg-Al LDH and Bismuth (III) oxide-impregnated Mg-Al LDH with CTAB as a scaffold with significant absorption in the visible range, with a narrowed band gap of 1.8 eV. The photocatalytic performance of the heterostructures was evaluated for the degradation of various dyes under visible light . Anionic dyes, such as Orange G and Indigo Carmine , exhibited remarkable degradation efficiencies exceeding 90 %, attributed to the synergistic effect of photocatalysis and adsorption. The optimized structural, optical, and electronic properties using VESTA (Visualization for Electronic and Structural Analysis) make this material a promising candidate for further development in catalysis and energy conversion applications. Structural visualization Nanosponge Bi 2 O 3 -MgAl LDH and its Photocatalytic Degradation of Indigo Carmine