| Facile fabrication of ternary CuO/CuS/ZnS for photodegradation of methylene blue |
| Muhammad Abudllah1, Maryam Al Huwayz2, Norah Alwadai2, Sumaira Manzoor3, Mehar Un Nisa3, Peter John1, Muhammad Ishfaq Ghori4, Salma Aman5, M. S. Al-Buriahi6, Muhammad Naeem Ashiq3 |
1Department of Chemistry , Government College University Lahore , Katchery Road, Anarkali, Lahore 54000, Punjab, Pakistan
2Department of Physics, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428 , Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia
3Institute of Chemical Sciences, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan
4Department of Chemistry, Government Murray College, Sialkot 51141, Pakistan
5Institute of Physics , Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology, Abu Dhabi Road, Rahim Yar Khan 64200, Pakistan
6Department of Physics, Sakarya University, Sakarya, Turkey |
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Received: July 25, 2022; Revised: November 10, 2022 Accepted: January 18, 2023. Published online: March 9, 2023. |
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| ABSTRACT |
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Synthetic dyes play a vital role in our daily life because they are utilized in products ranging from clothing to leather accessories. Unfortunately, these carcinogenic dyes are discharged into water streams any prior process considering the health problems in aquatic life and human beings. It is mandatory to separate noxious materials from wastewater. Semiconductors are viewed as a viable possibility for photocatalytic mineralization of noxious dyes. Herein, facile in situ hydrothermal approach (HT) was utilized for the fabrication of CuO, CuS ZnS, and their ternary CuO/CuS/ZnS nanocomposite. The fabricated CuO/CuS/ZnS nanocomposites were analysed through powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscope equipped with energy-dispersive X-ray (SEM–EDX), and ultraviolet– visible spectroscopy (UV–Vis). Moreover, the optical investigation manifested the bandgap energy value of copper oxide, copper sulphides, zinc sulphides, and ternary CuO/CuS/ZnS nanocomposite, corresponding to 2.63, 3.1, 4.51, and 2.2 eV, respectively, which was estimated from absorption spectrum. Subsequently, the photocatalytic results of CuO, CuS, ZnS, and ternary CuO/CuS/ZnS nanocomposite against methylene blue (MB) dye were 71%, 42%, 45%, and 96%, respectively. The photocatalytic scheme showed the role of hydroxyl radicals and electrons in the photodegradation reaction. Our finding suggests that the fabricated nanocomposite shows superior photocatalytic efficiency towards mineralization of methylene blue which can be used for commercial applications. |
| Key words:
Visible light · Photocatalyst · Methylene blue · Nanocomposite · Photodegradation |
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