Enhanced photocatalytic degradation of cationic dye using Cu-doped ZnSe

Abstract

The persistence of organic contaminants in an aqueous system adversely influences the ecosystems. To alleviate this ruinous issue, Cu doped ZnSe nanostructure is investigated for its catalytic performance assisted with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) where cationic Methylene Blue (MB) is employed as a model contaminant. The Cu-doped ZnSe nanocatalysts are synthesized by a solvothermal approach and are characterized by XRD, FTIR, XPS, FE-SEM-EDX, BET, UV-VIS Spectroscopy, and PL. Enhancement in Cu doping improves the degradation performance of H2O2 assisted MB degradation, where with 5% of Cu-doping achieved 95.69% and 15% of Cu doping attains 98.09% of MB degradation across 180 min under visible light illumination. The proficient exculsion of MB dye by using Cu-doped ZnSe is attributed to Cu dopant, which decreases ZnSe bandgap and serves as an electron trapping center that inhibits the recombination of charge carriers. Among all, 15% Cu-doped ZnSe when assisted with H2O2 exhibits the highest degradation efficiency under visible light illumination is a repercussion to the synergetic effect of high surface area, tunable bandgap, and enhanced charge carriers separation owning to electron scavenging effects of H2O2. Thus, offering a promising strategy in fulfilling the upcoming environmental issues concerned with the removal of organic dyes from water reservoirs.