A Facile Synthesis of Copper Oxide Nanorods for Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic Pollutant and Inactivation of Pathogens

Abstract

In the recent years, green synthesis of nanomaterials has received a great attention to researchers in worldwide due to eco-friendly and scalable synthesis. Here, we report a green synthesis of copper oxide (CuO) nanorods via sonochemical assisted approach. The crystalline structure, band gap and morphology of as prepared CuO nanorods were investigated by UV-Vis diffuse reflectance (UV-Vis/DRS), Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy, powder X-Ray diffraction (XRD) pattern and scanning electron microscopy (FESEM-EDX). The bandgap of as prepared CuO nanorods was found to be 2.0 eV, which is fall in the visible region of solar spectrum. FTIR demonstrated that there is strong interaction between Cu and oxygen in prepared CuO. XRD results reveal the formation of phase pure and crystalline CuO. FESEM images clearly show the rod like morphology of CuO and the presence of elemental copper and oxygen in EDX, confirms the formation of CuO. The photocatalytic degradation activity of CuO nanorods was examined against a model dye pollutant, nitrobenzene (NB) under visible light irradiation. CuO nanorods were effectively degraded the NB under visible light irradiation. CuO nanorods acts as potent and shows enhanced antimicrobial agent against pathogenic fungi, Candida albicans and bacteria, Escherichia coli.