Catalytic activity of Au@Cu2O core-shell nanostructure for the organic pollutant remediation

Abstract

Core-shell metal-semiconductor nanostructures have established worldwide interest due to their magnificent chemical, optical and electrical behavior as compared to their monometallic analogous. Wet chemically synthesized gold-copper oxide (Au@Cu2O) core-shell nanostructures were studied for catalytic activity for the degradation of dyes such as crystal violet (CV) and congo red (CR) and the reduction of organic pollutant, 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) to 4-aminophenol (4-AP) and compared with Au nanoparticles (Au NPs). The Au@Cu2O nanostructures show ten times higher reduction rate for 4-NP than that of monometallic Au NPs. The adsorption followed by degradation of CV, and CR dyes in aqueous solution has been investigated with Au NPs and Au@Cu2O core-shell nanostructures. Kinetics study has been performed using Au NPs and Au@Cu2O core-shell nanostructure for the 4-NP reduction, CV and CR degradation. The synergistic effect in Au@Cu2O core-shell nanostructure facilitates catalytic activity compared to the monometallic Au NPs.