Photocatalytic and photoelectrocatalytic performance of sonochemically synthesized CuO@TiO heterojunction nanocomposites.

CuO@TiO heterojunction nanocomposites were prepared via ultrasonic method towards the removal of the environmental pollutant of MO by the visible light photocatalytic approach. The structure of prepared CuO@TiO heterojunction nanocomposites was analyzed by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, photoluminescence spectroscopy, UV-Visible absorption spectroscopy, diffused reflectance spectroscopy. The photocatalytic degradation ability was tested using methyl orange as a model pollutant. From the observed pseudo-first order reaction, it was clear that CuO@TiO nanocomposites showed enhanced photocatalytic activity (rate = 0.223 s). The formation of demethylated methyl orange as an intermediate was identified from HPLC analysis at a retention time of 3.47 min. When doped with CuO, the TiO preserved the integrity of its structural, revealing the morphology there is no significant changes have been made, favoring photoelectrochemical appliances. In presence of illumination, the photocurrent of CuO@TiO was 4.5 folds greater than that of TiO, involving that incorporating with CuO extensively enhanced mobility of electron via reducing the recombination rate of electron-hole pairs.