Abstract

Copper–iron (Cu–Fe) oxide composite films were successfully deposited on quartz substrate by a facile sparking process. The nanoparticles were deposited on the substrate after sparking off the Fe and Cu tips with different ratios and were then annealed at different temperatures. The network particles were observed after annealing the film at 700 °C. Meanwhile, XRD, XPS and SAED patterns of the annealed films at 700 °C consisted of a mixed phase of CuO, γ-Fe2O3, CuFe2O4 and CuFe2O. The film with the lowest energy band gap (Eg) of 2.56 eV was observed after annealing at 700 °C. Interestingly, the optimum ratio and annealing temperature show the photocatalytic activity under visible light higher than 20% and 30% compare with the annealed TiO2 at 500 and 700 °C, respectively. This is a novel photocatalyst which can be replaced TiO2 for photocatalytic applications in the future.

Highlights

  • Copper–iron (Cu–Fe) oxide composite films were successfully deposited on quartz substrate by a facile sparking process

  • It is noted that the annealed Cu–Fe oxide film at 700 °C with the ratio of 2:2 has a degradation performance higher than 20–30% compared with the wellknown photocatalyst such as ­TiO2

  • A new finding of Cu–Fe oxide which was used as photocatalyst is a strong point of this work

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Summary

Introduction

Copper–iron (Cu–Fe) oxide composite films were successfully deposited on quartz substrate by a facile sparking process. The optimum ratio and annealing temperature show the photocatalytic activity under visible light higher than 20% and 30% compare with the annealed ­TiO2 at 500 and 700 °C, respectively This is a novel photocatalyst which can be replaced ­TiO2 for photocatalytic applications in the future. We aim to synthesize novel Cu–Fe oxides composite films by a one-step sparking process. This process has been developed in our lab which can prepare small, uniform particles, high porous films, and determine the composite r­ atio[18–26]. Chemical and optical properties of the as-deposited composite films were improved by heat treatment. Morphology, chemical and optical properties of the samples were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM, JEOL JSM300 and SEM, JEOI JSM 6335F), transmission electron microscopy (TEM, JEOL JEM 2010), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS, AXIS Ultra DLD-X-ray Photoelectron Spectrometer and a monochromatic AlKa X-ray excitation source) and UV–Vis spectroscopy (Hitachi U-4100)

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