Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity of Cu2O Cabbage/RGO Nanocomposites under Visible Light Irradiation.

Appusamy Muthukrishnaraj,Anish Khan,Ahmed Al Otaibi,Salma Ahmed Al-Zahrani,Abdulaah M Asiri,Mohamed A Riswan Ahamed,Semmedu Selvaraj Kalaivani,Anwar L Bilgrami,Natarajan Balasubramanian,Natesan Balasubramanian,Ayyar Manikandan

doi:10.3390/polym13111712

Abstract

Towards the utilization of Cu2O nanomaterial for the degradation of industrial dye pollutants such as methylene blue and methyl orange, the graphene-incorporated Cu2O nanocomposites (GCC) were developed via a precipitation method. Using Hummers method, the grapheme oxide (GO) was initially synthesized. The varying weight percentages (1–4 wt %) of GO was incorporated along with the precipitation of Cu2O catalyst. Various characterization techniques such as Fourier-transform infra-red (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV–visible diffused reflectance (UV-DRS), Raman spectroscopy, thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA), energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), and electro chemical impedance (EIS) were followed for characterization. The cabbage-like morphology of the developed Cu2O and its composites were ascertained from field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). In addition, the growth mechanism was also proposed. The results infer that 2 wt % GO-incorporated Cu2O composites shows the highest value of degradation efficiency (97.9% and 96.1%) for MB and MO at 160 and 220 min, respectively. Further, its catalytic performance over visible region (red shift) was also enhanced to an appreciable extent, when compared with that of other samples.

Highlights

The contamination of carcinogenic organic dyes in water bodies is the serious environmental problem in the world
Synthetic dyes play an important role in many industries, but it is hardly difficulty to determine the quantity of dyes discharged in various industrial processes
It is reported that the more than 100,000 synthetic dyes are commercially available in market and their major application is in the field of textile printing industry to color fabrics [4,5]

Summary

Introduction

The contamination of carcinogenic organic dyes in water bodies is the serious environmental problem in the world. Polymers and polymer inorganic nanocomposite are an excellent recent material to remove contamination of industrials waste because of the high surface area of the polymer and its composite with inorganic metal oxides. Grapheme oxide (GO) is a proved promising material for the degradation of dyes due to its high surface area, ample functional groups, flexible sheets, unique electronic band structure, and extraordinary mechanical strength. Attention has focused on the performance of metal oxide graphene nanocomposites with different concentrations, structural composite ratios, and surface features. In this regard, many researchers have made a detailed study on the performance of nanocomposites of GO–ZnO and GO–TiO2 [23]. Gthlaesssapmhoetomceathaloydticwraesacutoser.dFfuorrththere, cthaetaslaymtice bmeehtahvoidorwoafspuusreedCfour2OtheancadtaDlyetgicubsesahaPv2-5. ior of pure Cu2O and Degussa P25

Results and discussion

Thermogravimetric Analysis

Photocatalytic Studies

3.10. Kinetic Studies

Conclusions