Co-precipitation synthesis of CuMn₂O₄/CuMnO nanocomposites without capping agent and investigation of their applications for removing pollutants from wastewater

Abstract

The widespread problem of water pollution is jeopardizing our health. Elimination of dye pollution from the solvent phase by adsorption is a necessary aspect of research. In this research, CuMn₂O₄/CuMnO nanocomposites were prepared via the co-precipitation method and used to remove dye pollution from an aqueous solution. These nanocomposites were synthesized for the first time in this work. The techniques including XRD, SEM, EDS, VSM, FT-IR, and UV–Vis were used to identify the nanocomposites. The nanocomposites showed a ferromagnetic behavior (coercivity ~ 1082.55 Oe) in low fields and an antiferromagnetic behavior in high fields. Also, their photocatalytic properties for eriochrome black T degradation were studied under visible light irradiation, for the first time. The experiments were repeated in the presence of sucrose as a capping agent. The structure, morphology, and photocatalytic properties of two samples prepared in the presence and absence of a capping agent for eriochrome black T degradation were investigated and compared. The results showed that the sample prepared in the absence of a capping agent has better morphology and photocatalytic activity for the removal of eriochrome black T from an aqueous solution. The photodegradation amount of eriochrome black T solution with 10 ppm concentration by 0.03 g nanocomposite was obtained 76%. The eriochrome black T degradation at acidic pH occurred at a higher rate (80.45% after 90 min) than that at other pHs.