Effect of calcination temperature on characteristic properties of CaMoO4 nanoparticles

The present work reports on the solution combustion synthesis of CaMoO4 nanoparticles using molybdenum metal powder as the ‘Mo’ source and citric acid as a fuel. To understand the effect of thermal treatment on the crystallinity, particle size, surface area and photocatalytic degradation at different pH conditions, combustion-derived CaMoO4 nanoparticles were subjected to the calcination at different temperatures in an ambient atmosphere. The powder X-ray diffraction patterns of calcined samples were used to substantiate the effect of calcination on phase formation and crystallite size. The average crystallite size of scheelite tetragonal CaMoO4 nanoparticles was found to increase with an increase in calcination temperature. Transmission electron microscopy images illustrate the average particle size varying in the range of 10–70 nm. The surface area of CaMoO4 nanoparticles decreases with an increase in the calcination temperature. Photocatalytic degradation of MB dye under UV-light illumination was found to be affected by thermal treatment. Keywords: Nanoparticles, Calcium molybdate, Scheelite structure, Solution combustion, Photocatalytic activity, Transmission electron microscop