Kinetic modeling of sonocatalytic performance of Gd-doped CdSe nanoparticles for degradation of Acid Blue 5

CdSe and Gd-doped CdSe nanoparticles were synthesized using a simple hydrothermal method, and their catalytic activity was examined toward degradation of Acid Blue 5 (AB5) in the sonocatalytic process. The structure and morphology of as-prepared nanomaterials were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Branauer, Emmett and Teller (BET) and Fourier infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) techniques. Among the synthesized samples, 4% Gd-doped CdSe nanoparticles demonstrated the highest catalytic activity with band gap energy of 1.61 eV. The effect of dopant content, initial dye concentration, catalyst dosage, ultrasonic power and inorganic radical scavengers on the degradation efficacy of AB5 was evaluated. The produced intermediates of AB5 degradation during sonocatalytic process were verified using gas chromatography–mass spectroscopy (GC–MS) technique. A novel intrinsic kinetic model for prediction of AB5 degradation efficiency was proposed. A good agreement was obtained between developed model and experimental data (R² > 0.94).