Construction of Y-CuMoO ₄ heterojunction nanocomposites for toxic methylene blue dye removal and electrocatalytic sensing of 3-chlorophenol

Herein, we have constructed a novel photo and electrocatalyst Y-CuMoO₄ (yttrium doped copper molybdate) nanocomposite material through a simple co-precipitation method. Chemical and physical properties of the Y-CuMoO₄ nanocomposite material were analysed using P-XRD (powder-X-ray diffraction), SEM-EDAX (scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray analysis), FT-IR (Fourier transform infrared) spectroscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy, TEM (transmission electron microscopy), XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy), and electrochemical techniques. The prepared CuMoO₄ NCs (copper molybdate nanocomposites) crystallize in the triclinic phase of α-CuMoO₄ (copper molybdate) and exhibit a well-defined nano-cube-like morphology, and a decrease in the bandgap value (1.39 eV) after the doping of Y (yttrium) in CuMoO₄ (1.44 eV) was observed from the Tauc plot. Broad transmittance peaks were shrunk after doping of Y in CuMoO₄; these results were revealed from the FT-IR analysis. EIS (electrochemical impedance spectroscopy) results reveal fivefold more charge migration after doping yttrium (Y-CuMoO₄, <i>R</i>_ct = 4.66) in CuMoO₄ (20.81). From photocurrent studies, we observed that the Y-CuMoO₄ photo/electrocatalyst showed 1.5-fold more visible light response than CuMoO₄. Y-CuMoO₄ exhibited a better electrochemical activity towards the analysis of 3-chlorophenol with a LOD of 0.028 µM and was shown to be a good photocatalyst material for the photodegradation of MB (methylene blue) dye (99.14%) in aqueous media. Furthermore, Y-CuMoO₄ retains its stability and reproducibility in 3-CP sensing and photodegradation of methylene blue.