Enhanced photocatalytic performance of CuO nanoparticles synthesized via surfactant assisted hydrothermal method
摘要
An effective approach to enhance the photocatalytic performance of CuO nanoparticles (NPs) is the use of hydrothermal synthesis. The CuO NPs were synthesized by hydrothermal technique in the presence of anionic surfactant. Structural, functional, morphological, chemical composition and optical properties of the synthesized NPs were characterized by using XRD, FTIR, SEM, UV-visible DRS and PL. The average crystallite size for pure, 0.05 M SHMP and 0.05 M SHMP assisted CuO samples are around 13 nm, 11 nm and 10 nm respectively. It was observed that the size of particle is affected by the nature of surfactant. Additionally, in all the samples, FTIR spectra show three identical Cu-O vibration modes that indicate the presence of crystalline CuO monoclinic structure. Thus, the spherical like CuO nanostructure can be used as an ideal material for photocatalytic performance. The synthesized NPs are then used to photo-catalytically degrade the methyl violet dye in aqueous media. Surfactant-assisted CuO NPs showed better photocatalytical activity than bare CuO NPs.