Evaluation of the Photocatalytic Properties of Copper Oxides/Graphene/TiO 2 Nanoparticles Composites.
Dragos CosmaAlexandra UrdaTeodora RaduMarcela-Corina RoșuMaria MihetCrina SocaciPublished in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) (2022)
Easy and cost-efficient modifications of titanium dioxide nanoparticles that improve their efficiency in the visible light domain represent a continuous and challenging research topic. In addition, the effect of graphene on the overall photocatalytic process is still debated. Consequently, herein, we prepared a series of TiO 2 nanoparticle-based composites with different copper oxide mass content (1-3%) and co-doped with graphene of different oxidation degrees. Different characterization techniques were used to analyze the structural and physico-chemical properties of the obtained composites: Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)/Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM)/Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) analysis, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The photocatalytic performance was evaluated by the degradation of methylene blue under both UVA and visible light irradiation. The nanocomposites show very good photocatalytic activity independent of the presence of reduced graphene oxide, due to the Cu 2 O/CuO-TiO 2 heterojunctions. This finding has been confirmed by the very efficient visible-light-driven degradation of amoxicillin and ciprofloxacin.
Keyphrases
- visible light
- electron microscopy
- reduced graphene oxide
- walled carbon nanotubes
- gold nanoparticles
- high resolution
- carbon nanotubes
- room temperature
- single molecule
- pseudomonas aeruginosa
- ionic liquid
- magnetic resonance imaging
- radiation therapy
- nitric oxide
- quantum dots
- gas chromatography mass spectrometry
- iron oxide
- highly efficient
- liquid chromatography
- aqueous solution