CuMoO4/ ZnO Nanocomposites: Novel Synthesis, Characterization, and Photocatalytic Performance

There are several sources of water contamination. One of the most important pollutant of water is azo dyes-based waste which produced by textile, paper and dye industrials. At this work, the morphological engineered CuMoO4/ ZnO Nanocomposites are prepared via simple and fast hydrothermal-microwave method and applied it as a photocaalyst for degradation of water pollutants. Prepared products is characterized with X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Ultra violet-Visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy. The results confirms that size and shape of prepared products is homogenous wih narrow size distribution. In the next step, prepared ZnO, CuMoO4, and ZnO/CuMoO4 nanocomposites were used as catalyst for photodegradation of methylene blue and Rhodamine B. Results showed that ZnO/CuMoO4 nanocomposites have excellent photocatalytic performance. Results indicated that prepared ZnO/CuMoO4 nanocomposites can be degraded 92 and 84% of methylene blue and Rhodamine B under UV irradiation after 70 minutes. The charge transfer from CuMoO4 to ZnO is confirmed by the optical characteristics of ZnO/CuMoO4 nanocomposites. As a result, the potential of electron-hole recombination in CuMoO4 decreases, resulting in holes in the valance band that combine with OH groups on the surface of nanocomposites to form highly reactive OH• radicals. The radicals are damaged when they come into contact with Rhodamine B and Methylene blue.