Water Science and Technology (Nov 2021)
Facile synthesis of ZnO/CuO/Ag2O ternary metal oxide nanocomposite for effective photodegradation of organic water pollutants
Abstract
The current study is focused on fabrication of a ternary metal oxide nanocomposite (ZnO/CuO/Ag2O) as an efficient and superior photocatalyst by step-wise implanting of p-type CuO and Ag2O semiconductors onto an n-type semiconductor (ZnO) via a chemical method. The structural and textural characteristics of the manufactured samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy combined with electron dispersive spectroscopy (FESEM-EDS) and UV–visible spectroscopy. The photocatalytic performance of the fabricated ternary nanocomposite was tested against the photocatalytic degradation of crystal violet (CV) and rhodamine B (RhB) organic dyes under solar light irradiation. The ternary nanocomposite demonstrated about 99.05% and 97.38% degradation efficiency toward CV and RhB dyes under solar light irradiation in a time period of 105 min. The calculated rate constants (k, min−1) for degradation under solar light over the ZnO/CuO/Ag2O nanocomposite were 4.26 and 3.61 times higher than the k value obtained over ZnO nanoparticles for CV and RhB dyes, respectively. The main reactive species taking part in the photodegradation processes were •OH and •O2− over ZnO/CuO/Ag2O photocatalysts under solar light illumination. Furthermore, the recycle experiments confirmed good reusability and photo-stability of the ZnO/CuO/Ag2O ternary nanocomposite. HIGHLIGHTS Ternary metal oxide (TMO) nanocomposite (ZnO/CuO/Ag2O) was prepared by step-wise deposition of p-type CuO and Ag2O semiconductors onto an n-type ZnO semiconductor.; As-prepared TMO has displayed enhanced photocatalytic activities against the CV (97.38%) and RhB (99.05%) dyes compared with binary ZnO/CuO metal oxide and ZnO nanoparticles under the solar light irradiation.;
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