Studies on the catalytic activity of CuO/TiO2/ZnO ternary nanocomposites prepared via one step hydrothermal green approach

Abstract

In the present investigation, CuO/TiO2/ZnO ternary nanocomposites (CTZ TNCs) were developed via one-step hydrothermal green approach using Delonix regia flower extract. The monoclinic, tetragonal and hexagonal wurtzite phase structures were observed from the CTZ TNCs, which was primarily identified by the PXRD pattern. The structural defects and crystal nature was demonstrated by the Raman analysis. The individual prominent Raman modes of CuO, TiO2 and ZnO were observed from the CTZ TNCs. The morphological study was investigated by using Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) analysis. From the FESEM analysis, needle like structure was observed from the prepared material of CTZ TNCs and size was achieved around to be 50–200 nm. At room temperature, ternary CTZ NCs acts as an excellent catalyst for reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP), Methylene Blue (MB) and Crystal violet (CV) dyes and degradation efficiency achieved to be 95.48%, 94.84% and 82.18%, respectively.