Synthesis, characterization and photocatalytic application of tio2/cuo nanocomposites

The rapid development of industry in recent years has caused serious air and water pollution. Photocatalysis is an advanced technology for the removal of pollutants from water in industrial applications, as well as for the reduction of CO2 and corrosion of various metals. TiO2 is very popular due to its unique photocatalytic activity, wide bandgap, non-toxicity, chemical stability and low cost. In order to further improve the photocatalytic activity of TiO2, different studies are carried out to obtain composite structures with semiconductor metal oxides. CuO is a p-type semiconductor with a wide light absorption range of 1.2 eV - 2.4 eV bandgap. The conduction and valence band potentials of CuO are lower than those of TiO2. Therefore, the composite structure of CuO and TiO2 significantly increases the photocatalytic efficiency. In this study, TiO2/CuO nanocomposite (TCN) structures used as a photocatalyst in the photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) under UV-A light were synthesized at different concentrations. The composite structures formed were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The methylene blue photodegradation efficiency is 89% for TiO2 nanotube arrays (TND) and 97% for composite material. 2022, 32 Pages Keywords: CuO, Photocatalysis, TiO2 nanotube,