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NANOSYSTEMS: PHYSICS, CHEMISTRY, MATHEMATICS, 2016, 7 (4), P. 695–698

Visible light degradation of textile effluent using nanostructured TiO₂/Ag/CuO photocatalysts

N. Karthikeyan – Department of Nuclear Physics, University of Madras, Guindy Campus, Chennai, India; Department of Physics, The Open University of Sri Lanka, Nawala, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka; karthikppt@gmail.com
V. Narayanan – Department of Inorganic Chemistry, University of Madras, Guindy Campus, Chennai, India; vnnara@yahoo.co.in
A. Stephen – Department of Nuclear Physics, University of Madras, Guindy Campus, Chennai, India; stephen_arum@hotmail.com

TiO₂, Ag and CuO nanomaterials, and nanostructured TiO₂/Ag/CuO photocatalytic materials coupled in different weight percentages were synthesized. The prepared materials were characterized by XRD, SEM, EDX and UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. Photocatalytic degrading capabilities of the pure, as well as the nanostructured TiO₂/Ag/CuO photocatalytic materials were tested on the dye effluent collected from the textile industries. The samples collected during the photocatalytic degradation of textile dye effluent were studied with UV-Vis spectroscopy. The nanostructured TiO₂/Ag/CuO photocatalyst with the composition of 80:10:10 weight percentage exhibited remarkable performance. Coupling of Ag metal nanoparticles and narrow bandgap CuO semiconductor nanomaterial to the wide bandgap TiO₂ semiconductor nanomaterial was found to modify the operative bandgap of the system and generate electron-hole pairs under visible light irradiation. The coupled TiO₂/Ag/CuO system facilitates improved electron transfer to the adsorbed molecules, and thus the system improves the photocatalytic degradation of dyes by enhanced redox mechanism.

Keywords: Coupled TiO₂/Ag/CuO, Nanostructured photocatalysts, bandgap, degradation of textile effluents, advanced oxidation process.

PACS 62.23.St, 42.70.Qs, 87.85.Rs

DOI 10.17586/2220-8054-2016-7-4-695-698

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