UCLA

Water pollution is one of the leading causes of death and disease worldwide, yet mitigating it remains a challenge. This paper presents an efficient new strategy for the processing of wastewater utilizing an accessible redox reaction with MoSe₂ nanoflowers, which shows a strong oxidizing ability and permits the decomposition of dye molecules in dark environments without the need for an external power source. This reaction can treat wastewater at a decomposition rate above 0.077 min^-1 , even when interacting with organic pollutants at concentrations up to 1500 ppm. Theoretical calculations by Dmol³ simulation elucidates that the reactions proceed spontaneously, and the kinetic constant (k_obs ) for this redox reaction with 10 ppm RhB dye is 0.53 min^-1 , which is 65 times faster than the titanium dioxide photocatalytic wastewater treatment. More importantly, the residual waste solution can be further utilized as a precursor to reconstruct the MoSe₂ nanoflowers. To demonstrate the effectiveness and reusability, the treated effluent is directly used as the sole source of irrigated water for plants with no adverse effect. This method offers an eco-friendly and more accessible way to treat industrial wastewater with zero-discharge.