A tunable CuDyO4 affixed exfoliated S-doped graphene oxide s-scheme heterojunction sheet photocatalytic degradation towards dye from aqueous solution

Abstract

• S-scheme heterojunction SGOxCu 1-x DyO 4 was successfully synthesized by hydrothermal route. • The heterojunction exhibited high photocatalytic efficiency for removal of organic pollutants. • The heterojunction materials showed better performance compared with pristine material. • As-prepared heterojunction can be employed for successive use. In this work, visible light-responsive s-scheme heterojunction SGOxCu 1-x DyO 4 was felicitously fabricated by the in-situ hydrothermal method. These were subsequently investigated for the photocatalytic degradation of an aqueous solution of Congo red (CR) dye molecules in the presence of visible light illumination. The morphology and elemental analysis of the composite were carried out by XRD, SEM and EDS. The FTIR spectra indicated the formation of composites for the hosts SGOxCu 1-x DyO 4 . Similarly, PL spectroscopy was employed to investigate the effective charge separation in the composts and from UV analysis band groups of the composites were found. Narrowing down of band gap from 3.2 eV of bare CuDyO 4 to 2.7 eV for SGO 0.25x Cu 1-x DyO 4 led to the production of photoinduced electrons and holes and the prevention of reunion of these charges. The optimal photocatalyst SGO 0.25x Cu 1-x DyO 4 demonstrated 93% degradation efficiency against CR after 60 minutes of exposure to visible light radiations. When compared with CuDyO 4 , SGOxCu 1-x DyO 4 exhibited greatly enhanced dye degradation efficiency. The recyclability test indicated that SGOxCu 1-x DyO 4 is a highly stable photocatalyst with four successive displaying degradation efficiency of 87%, 84% 78% and 71%, respectively. Owning to high photocatalytic efficiency and the potential to be used for multiple cycles SGO 0.25x Cu 1-x DyO 4 may be recommended for the practical elimination of CR dye from wastewater.