Smart and responsive nano copper oxide–PDMS composite for “three-in-one” synergistic adsorptive–oxidative / reductive degradation of the persistence of organic pollutants, elimination of nanoparticles and heavy metal ion

Abstract

Copper-and silica-based materials have been used globally as environmental catalysts and adsorbents for centuries. Despite their differences in their properties and roles in the participation of environmental activity, both have been combined to create various types of functional materials, ranging from copper oxides and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) sponge (PS) cores to advanced hybrid composite materials. In this work, CuO was incorporated onto SiO2 (CPC) by calcination of PDMS-Cu2O sponge, and the physicochemical properties and application of CPC were investigated. The CPC was homogeneous in a surface area (326.69 m2g-1), pore size (33.16 Å), pore volume (0.056 cm³g−1), and particle size (183.66 Å). This CPC has been used for the degradation (oxidation/reduction) and adsorption of azithromycin (AZM), 1,4-dichlorobenzene (DCB), rhodamine B (RB), methylene blue (MB), 4-nitrophenol (4-NP), gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), and chromium (VI). Efficiencies of CPC for the above persistence of organic pollutants (POPs) and adsorption of AuNPs and Cr(VI) were ∼72–100% under optimized conditions. CPC followed the pseudo-second-order (PSO) degradation kinetics with a higher r2 (>0.99) with eight cycles of reusability. Moreover, this synthetic strategy can be tailored to produce nanostructured composite materials and/or those associated with other species for diverse environmental and industrial applications.