SILAR Preparation of CuO Nanoparticles on TiO2 Sol-Gel Layer for Efficient Visible Light Photocatalysis

Abstract

In recent times photocatalysis is attracting extensive attention due to the environmental problems with toxic organic compounds. One of the most actively used materials for photocatalysis is titanium oxide. However, the photocatalytic activity of titanium oxide is insignificant in the visible spectrum. In this case, the creation of composites based on TiO2, which is photocatalytically active in the visible light irradiation is the actual aim.In this work, formation features and the photocatalytic properties of the CuO-TiO2 composite was studied. TiO2-CuO composite was fabricated by the sol-gel process (TiO2) and successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method (CuO) with a different number of deposition cycles. Structure, morphology and composition of samples were investigated by Raman spectroscopy, and SEM methods. The photocatalytic activity was examined under UV and visible irradiation. Photocatalytic activity of CuO-TiO2 composites was investigated from the number of SILAR deposition cycles.