Surfactant assisted synthesis of nanostructured Mn-doped CuO: An efficient photocatalyst for environmental remediation

Abstract

The nanostructured Mn-doped CuO material was hydrothermally synthesized using urea as a surfactant to control the shape and size of the material particles. Advanced physiochemical methods were used to look at the microstructure, texture, morphology, and chemistry of the Mn-doped and pristine CuO materials. I–V and UV/visible experiments were performed on doped and un-doped materials to investigate the effect of Mn-doping on electrical conductivity and bandgap. The antibacterial and photocatalytic characteristics of the hydrothermally prepared materials were evaluated and compared through the destruction of Escherichia coli (E.coli) and the photocatalytic mineralization of Rh–B dye. The Mn-doped CuO material has much better photocatalytic activity for the mineralization of Rh–B dye than pristine CuO, with 93.8% dye mineralization after 90 min of visible light illumination compared to 56.52% for pristine CuO. The Mn-doped CuO material mineralized the Rh–B dye at a rate constant (k) of 0.02152 min−1, about three times faster than virgin CuO (k = 0.00802 min−1). The Mn-doped CuO material has negligible electron-hole recombination aptitude but quicker charge transport characteristics than the un-doped comparable based on transient photocurrent and impedance testing. The current work shows how to make a doped semiconductive material that can be used to clean up the environment and is versatile, cheap, and very effective.