The study to fabricate the Cu2O/TiO2 nano-composite photocatalysis and investigation of photocatalytic properties for decomposition methyl orange dye under visible light irradiation

Abstract

Cu₂O/TiO₂ nano-composite heterostructure photocatalysis materials were prepared by hydrothermal method. The molar ratio of Ti⁴⁺ was calculated to vary as 10, 30 and 50 mol.% (compared with Cu²⁺ in moles) respectively. The methods used to investigate the properties of materials include: XRD, Raman shift, SEM and solid UV-Vis spectra. Photocatalytic properties for degradation methyl orange (MO) dye of the fabricated materials were investigated under visible light irradiation by a Osram lamp (250W). The Cu₂O/TiO₂ nanocomposites samples all had of fine, spherical anata TiO₂ crystals surrounding the octahedra Cu₂O crystals. The size of octahedra particles was ~400-500 nm, the size of TiO₂ particles was <50-80 nm. The band gap of the Cu₂O/10%TiO₂, Cu₂O/30%TiO₂ and Cu₂O/50%TiO₂ samples gradually increased by 2.47, 2.67, 2.82 eV. The samples had photocatalytic properties for MO dye degradation in the visible light region. The highest efficiency for MO degradation was 92% after 40 minutes of illumination that was of Cu2O/10%TiO₂ samples.