Synthesis and characterization of Cu-BaTiO3 nanocomposite for atrazine remediation under visible-light radiation from wastewater

Abstract

The most herbicide used in agriculture in many regions is atrazine, which leads to many worries as reported by its toxicity. In this, we have synthesized BaTiO3 nanoparticles through a simple method, its absorption was converted from UV region to visible region via deposition of metallic copper using a photoassisted deposition way. The results of characterizations declared the act of Cu for enhancing the optoelectronic, optical, and structural properties of barium titanite photocatalyst. The bandgap of barium titanite photocatalyst can be controlled via controlling the weight percent of metallic copper. The outcomes declared 5 wt % of copper can reduce bandgap of BaTiO3 to 2.77 eV from 3.28 eV. The Cu@ BaTiO3 nanoparticles showed an exceptional atrazine photodegradation in the water at 1.6 gL–1 within 40 min with outstanding recyclability. The improvement of the photocatalytic activity of the prepared Cu@ BaTiO3 is specified to the local surface plasmon resonance(LSPR) of cupper-barium titanite photocatalyst. This diminishes the recombination rate of electron-hole and productively exceeds the undoped BaTiO3 photocatalyst.

Keywords

• Atrazine
• Photocatalyst
• Visible light
• Photodegradation