Antimonite Nanoparticle Photocatalysis: Sb(III) → Sb(V) Oxidation

Antimonite — the Sb(III) oxoanion, not to be confused with the antimonide semiconductors used in optoelectronics — is a mobile, toxic form of antimony found in contaminated groundwater. Removing it starts with oxidizing it to the far less mobile Sb(V) antimonate, a step driven by UV-activated metal-oxide nanoparticles generating hydroxyl radicals at their surface. This simulator renders that photocatalytic bed in 3D: a fixed lattice of catalyst nanoparticles sits below a diffusing cloud of Sb(III) ions, and every close, UV-driven encounter converts one ion to Sb(V), tracked live as a pseudo-first-order decay curve. UV intensity, catalyst loading and solution pH controls let you see how each variable independently changes the observed rate constant, exactly as a water-treatment engineer would tune a real reactor.