Facile Solvothermal Synthesis of CeO2–CuO Nanocomposite Photocatalyst Using Novel Precursors with Enhanced Photocatalytic Performance in Dye Degradation

Abstract

This paper reports a facile solvothermal process for synthesizing dendritic CeO2–CuO nanocomposite using [Ce(salen)2] and [Cu(sal)2] as novel precursors in ethylene glycol as a solvent. The morphology and microstructure of the obtained products were characterized by X-ray diffraction pattern, UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. Effect of temperature and reaction time, surfactant, and the ratio of reactants on morphology of prepared nanostructures was well studied. Moreover, the efficiency of dendritic CeO2–CuO nanocomposite as a photocatalyst for the decolorization of methylene violet (MV) under ultraviolet and visible light irradiations was evaluated and more than 93 and 72%, respectively, of MV were decolorized after 90 min. Also, the effect of particle size and morphology on the photocatalytic activity was investigated.