Remarkable visible light actuated photodegradation of methylene blue using copper oxide/tungsten oxide heterojunction composites

Abstract

The interface area created by contact/coupling of two or more semiconductors, named heterojunction has proved worthy for promoting the movement of photogenerated charges on photocatalysts. Hence, increases the photocatalytic performance. Copper oxide /tungsten oxide heterojunction nanocomposites with different molar concentrations (0.05 M, 0.1 M) of copper oxide were synthesized through a simple co-precipitation method, and tungsten oxide (WO₃) nanoparticles were also prepared for comparative analysis. Techniques such as UV–visible, FTIR, XRD, PL, and SEM were employed to characterize synthesized materials. The photocatalytic activity of synthesized nanomaterials was also investigated concerning the photodegradation of Methylene blue (MB) dye solution (10 ppm) under sunlight. Maximum (92 %) degradation of dye was achieved by calcined (0.1 M) CuO-WO₃ photocatalyst compared to WO₃ photocatalyst which showed a degradation capacity of 40 % at the same exposure time of 180 min. Copper oxide enhanced the photocatalytic activity of nanocomposites.