Abstract
A simple oxidation method for preparing CuO nanodisks on a flexible Cu sheet is presented. The crystal structure of as-prepared CuO nanodisks was analyzed by X-ray diffraction. The elemental composition and surface morphology were documented by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning, and transmission electron microscopy. The photocatalytic performance of flexible Cu/CuO nanodisks was tested to mediate the degradation of RhB and MB dyes. After 2nd recycling, an in situ transformation of the nanodisk surface leads to electron transfer between the conduction bands of Cu2O and CuO phase, accelerating the degradation of the dyes due to a more favorable electron-hole separation under different band gap engineering. The optical and electrochemical impedance analyses were conducted to examine the efficiency of photogenerated charge carrier separation. Additionally, in the photodegradation system of Cu/CuO nanodisks, the generation of superoxide radical (·O2−) is responsible for the dye degradation under daylight irradiation. The generation of the latter radical is energetically feasible since the conduction band of Cu2O (− 0.28 eV) is well-matching with the redox potential of O2/·O2− (− 0.28 eV). Consequently, it is concluded that the cyclic stability shows the usefulness of Cu/CuO nanodisk preparation for the dye degradation under daylight irradiation.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
All authors agreed to state that required data and materials relevant will be available for further validity of the results presented.
References
Dubale AA, Pan CJ, Tamirat AGH et al (2015) Heterostructured Cu2O/CuO decorated with nickel as a highly efficient photocathode for photoelectrochemical water reduction. J Mater Chem A 3:12482–12499. https://doi.org/10.1039/C5TA01961C
Emeline A, Kataeva GV, Litke AS, Rudakova AV, Ryabchuk VK, Serpone N (1998) Spectroscopic and photoluminescence studies of a wide band gap insulating material: powdered and colloidal ZrO2 sols. Langmuir 14:5011–5022. https://doi.org/10.1021/la980083l
Emin S, Abdi FF, Fanetti M, Peng W, Smith W, Sivula K, Dam B, Valant M (2014) A novel approach for the preparation of textured CuO thin films from electrodeposited. J Electroanal Chem 717:243–249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jelechem.2014.01.038
Fujishima A, Rao TN, Tryk DA (2000) Titanium dioxide photocatalysis. J Photochem Photobiol C: Photochem Rev 1:1–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1389-5567(00)00002-2
He Y, Cai J, Li T, Wu Y, Lin H, Zhao L, Luo M (2013) Efficient degradation of RhB over GdVO4/g-C3N4 composites under visible-light irradiation. Chem Eng J 215-216:721–730. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2012.11.074
Khataee A, Kalderis D, Gholami P, Fazli A, Moschogiannaki M, Binas V, Lykaki M, Konsolakis M (2019) Cu2O-CuO@biochar composite: synthesis, characterization and its efficient photocatalytic performance. Appl Surf Sci 498:143846. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2019.143846
Khiavi NV, Katal R, Eshkalak SK, Masudy-Panah S, Ramakrishna S, Hu JY (2019) Visible light driven heterojunction photocatalyst of CuO-Cu2O thin films for photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants. Nanomaterials 9:1011. https://doi.org/10.3390/nano9071011
Leng WH, Zhang Z, Zhang JQ, Cao CN (2005) Investigation of the kinetics of a TiO2 photoelectrocatalytic reaction involving charge transfer and recombination through surface states by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. J Phys Chem B 109:15008–15023. https://doi.org/10.1021/jp051821z
Li H, Su Z, Hu S, Yan Y (2017) Free-standing and flexible Cu/Cu2O/CuO heterojunction net: a novel material as cost-effective and easily recycled visible light photocatalyst. Appl Catal B-Environ 207:134–142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2017.02.013
Li YX, Chen X, Li L (2019) Facile thermal exfoliation of Cu sheets towards the CuO/Cu2O heterojunction: a cost-effective photocatalyst with visible-light response for promising sustainable applications. RSC Adv 9:33395–33402. https://doi.org/10.1039/C9RA06837F
Liao AZ, Zhu WD, Chen JB, Zhang XQ, Wang CW (2014) Vertically aligned single-crystalline ultra-thin CuO nanosheets: low-temperature fabrication, growth mechanism, and excellent field emission. J Alloys Compd 609:253–261. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2014.04.159
Mishra AK, Pradhan D (2016) Morphology controlled solution-based synthesis of Cu2O crystals for the facets-dependent catalytic reduction of highly toxic aqueous Cr(VI). Cryst Growth Des 16:3688–3698. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.cgd.6b00186
Mo X, Hu J, Shen H, Shui L, Shu D, He J, He G, Wang Y, Li W, He Q (2018) Surface modification of micro-sized CuO by in situ-growing heterojunctions CuO/Cu2O and CuO/Cu2O/Cu: effect on surface charges and photogenerated carrier lifetime. Appl Phys A Mater Sci Process 124:719. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-018-2138-8
Mosleh S, Rahimi MR, Ghaedi M, Dashtian K, Hajati S (2018) Sonochemical-assisted synthesis of CuO/Cu2O/Cu nanoparticles as efficient photocatalyst for simultaneous degradation of pollutant dyes in rotating packed bed reactor: LED illumination and central composite design optimization. Ultrason Sonochem 40:601–610. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultsonch.2017.08.007
Muthulingam S, Bae KB, Khan R, Lee I-H, Uthirakumar (2015) P Improved daylight-induced photocatalytic performance and suppressed photocorrosion of N-doped ZnO decorated with carbon quantum dots. RSC Adv 5:46247–46251. https://doi.org/10.1039/C5RA07811C
Opoku F, Govender KK, Sittert CGCEV, Govender PP (2017) Recent progress in the development of semiconductor-based photocatalyst materials for applications in photocatalytic water splitting and degradation of pollutants. Adv Sustain Syst 1:1700006. https://doi.org/10.1002/adsu.201700006
Ozgur U, Alivov YI, Liu C, Teke A et al (2005) A comprehensive review of ZnO materials and devices. J Appl Phys 98:041301. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1992666
Qamar MT, Aslam M, Ismail IMI, Salah N, Hameed A (2015) Synthesis, characterization, and sunlight mediated photocatalytic activity of CuO coated ZnO for the removal of nitrophenols. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 7:8757–8769. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.5b01273
Ranjith KS, Castillo RB, Sillanpaa M, Kumar RTR (2018) Effective shell wall thickness of vertically aligned ZnO-ZnS core-shell nanorod arrays on visible photocatalytic and photo sensing properties. Appl Catal B Environ 237:128–139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2018.03.099
Robinson T, McMullan G, Marchant R, Nigam P (2001) Remediation of dyes in textile effluent: a critical review on current treatment technologies with a proposed alternative. Bioresour Technol 77:247–255. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0960-8524(00)00080-8
Schlur L, Bonnot K, Spitzer D (2015) Synthesis of Cu(OH)2 and CuO nanotubes arrays on a silicon wafer. RSC Adv 5:6061–6070. https://doi.org/10.1039/C4RA10155C
Singh DP, Ojha AK, Srivastava ON (2009) Synthesis of different Cu(OH)2 and CuO (nanowires, rectangles, seed-, belt-, and sheet-like) nanostructures by simple wet chemical route. J Phys Chem C 113:3409–3418. https://doi.org/10.1021/jp804832g
Sonia S, Poongodi S, Kumar PS, Mangalaraj D, Ponpandian N, Viswanathan C (2015) Hydrothermal synthesis of highly stable CuO nanostructures for efficient photocatalytic degradation of organic dyes. Mater Sci Semicond Process 30:585–591. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mssp.2014.10.012
Uthirakumar P, Muthulingam S, Khan R, Yun JH, Cho HS, Lee IH (2015) Surfactant-free synthesis of leaf-like hierarchical CuO nanosheets as a UV light filter. Mater Lett 156:191–194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2015.05.032
Uthirakumar P, Devendiran M, Kim TH, Kalaiarasan S, Lee IH (2020) Fabrication of flexible sheets of Cu/CuO/Cu2O heterojunction nanodisks: a dominant performance of multiple photocatalytic sheets under natural sunlight. Mater Sci Eng B 260:114652. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mseb.2020.114652
Van Benthem K, Elsässer C, French RH (2001) Bulk electronic structure of SrTiO3: experiment and theory. J Appl Phys 90:6156–6164. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1415766
Wei Z, Benlin D, Fengxia Z, Xinyue T, Jiming X, Lili Z, Shiyin L, Leung DYC, Sun C (2018) A novel 3D plasmonic p-n heterojunction photocatalyst: Ag nanoparticles on flower-like p-Ag2S/n-BiVO4 and its excellent photocatalytic reduction and oxidation activities. Appl Catal B 229:171–180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2018.02.008
Wu HW, Lee SY, Lu WC, Chang KS (2015) Piezoresistive effects enhanced the photocatalytic properties of Cu2O/CuO nanorods. Appl Surf Sci 344:236–241. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2015.03.122
Xu X, Gao Z, Cui Z, Liang Y, Li Z, Zhu S, Yang X, Ma J (2016) Synthesis of Cu2O octadecahedron/TiO2 quantum dot heterojunctions with high visible light photocatalytic activity and high stability. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 8:91–101. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.5b06536
Zaman S, Zainelabdin A, Amin G, Nur O, Willander M (2012) Efficient catalytic effect of CuO nanostructures on the degradation of organic dyes. J Phys Chem Solids 73:1320–1325. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpcs.2012.07.005
Zhang Z, Wang P (2012) Optimization of photoelectrochemical water splitting performance on hierarchical TiO2 nanotube arrays. Energy Environ Sci 5:6506–6512. https://doi.org/10.1039/C2EE03461A
Zhang W, Wen X, Yang S (2003) Controlled reactions on a copper surface: synthesis and characterization of nanostructured copper compound films. Inorg Chem 42:5005–5014. https://doi.org/10.1021/ic0344214
Zhang Q, Zhang K, Xu D, Yang G, Huang H, Nie F, Liu C, Yang S (2014) CuO nanostructures: synthesis, characterization, growth mechanisms, fundamental properties, and applications. Prog Mater Sci 60:208–337. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmatsci.2013.09.003
Zhao Y, Shi H, Chen M, Teng F (2014) Splitting growth of novel CuO straw sheaves and their improved photocatalytic activity due to exposed active {110} facets and crystallinity. CrystEngComm 16:2417–2423. https://doi.org/10.1039/C3CE42271B
Zhao X, Tan Y, Wu F, Niu H, Tang Z, Cai Y, Giesy JP (2016) Cu/Cu2O/CuO loaded on the carbon layer derived from novel precursors with amazing catalytic performance. Sci Total Environ 571:380–387. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.05.151
Zhu J, Shen Y, Yu X, Guo J, Zhu Y, Zhang Y (2019) A facile two-step method to synthesize immobilized CdS/BiOCl film photocatalysts with enhanced photocatalytic activities. J Alloys Compd 771:309–316. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2018.08.317
Funding
This work was supported by Brain Pool Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT (2019H1D3A2A01102099).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Periyayya Uthirakumar: conceptualization, methodology, validation, writing-original draft and supervision. M. Devendiran: material preparation and data collection. S. Kalaiarasan: data collection and analysis. Hoki Son: data collection. In-Hwan Lee: review and editing, resources, and funding acquisition.
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Ethical approval
We assured that this manuscript is original work and this work neither accepted nor submitted simultaneously to any other journals.
Additional information
Responsible Editor: Sami Rtimi
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Highlights
• A facile method is developed to prepare the flexible sheets of Cu/CuO nanodisks.
• Excellent photocatalytic performance on RhB and MB dye under daylight irradiation.
• In situ transformation facilitates an enhanced photodegradation.
• The proposed sheet replaces the conventional nanomaterial photocatalysis.
Electronic supplementary material
ESM 1
(DOCX 3070 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Periyayya, U., Madhu, D., Subramaniyam, K. et al. Enhanced cyclic performance initiated via an in situ transformation of Cu/CuO nanodisk to Cu/CuO/Cu2O nanosponge. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 6459–6469 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-10910-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-10910-0