Abstract
CuO nanocomposites with different Ce3+ doping concentrations (0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 3.0 and 5.0 mol%) were synthesized by PEG-200 assisted facile sonochemical method. The as-synthesized composites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and UV-visible absorption spectroscopy. Further, these composites were evaluated for photodegradation activities towards MB dye under sunlight irradiation. The XRD results demonstrated that CuO nanocomposites exhibits monoclinic phase and the crystallinity decreases with increasing Ce3+ doping concentration. The as-synthesized nanocomposites exhibited vesicular morphology with diameters ranging from 50 to 100nm. UV-visible absorption spectra results demonstrated that these nanocomposites exhibit strong absorption in the visible region and the absorption intensity increases with increasing Ce3+ doping concentration. The photocatalytic experiments using as-synthesized nanocomposites for degradation of Methylene blue (MB) dye revealed that, compared to undoped CuO; Ce3+ doped CuO nanocomposites exhibited improved photodegradation ability. The photodegradation rate was maximum for 3.0 mol% Ce3+ doped CuO which showed 98% degradation within 180 mins under sunlight irradiation. Recycling experiments demonstrated good stability of as-synthesized nanocomposites even after threere cycles.
Highlights
Usual nondestructive nature towards target contaminant associated with the traditional wastewater treatment technologies have led to lose their importance
No additional peaks related to Ce or cerium oxides were detected within the detection limit of X-ray diffraction (XRD) instrument, which further suggests that Ce3+ ions are entered into the CuO lattices by substituting Cu2+ or existed in amorphous forms
Ce3+ doped CuO catalysts were prepared by PEG-200 assisted facile sonochemical method
Summary
Usual nondestructive nature towards target contaminant associated with the traditional wastewater treatment technologies have led to lose their importance. Among various semiconductor photocatalysts employed in photocatalysis, TiO2 and ZnO are widely explored and highlighted by various researchers [13]. CuO is a low cost and can be a good alternative to TiO2 and ZnO; recently researchers are trying to explore possibility of employing CuO based materials for photocatalytic applications. It has been reported that, photoactivity of a semiconductor photocatalyst can be well improved by doping with certain cation [22]. As can be seen from the extensive literature search, there are very less reports on synthesis of Ce doped CuO nanomaterials and their possible application in photocatalysis. Considering above discussion, present study we are reporting PEG-200 assisted facile sonochemical method for synthesis of undoped and different mol% Cerium (Ce3+) doped CuO nanocomposites. The as-synthesized nanocomposites were characterized by XRD, FESEM and UV-visible absorption spectroscopy and were further tested for sunlight mediated dye degradation of MB dye
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