Photocatalytic activities of the ZnO:CuO nanocomposites synthesized by microwave-assisted hydrothermal under UV-Vis irradiation

Abstract

The ZnO:CuO nanocomposite photocatalytic activity was experimentally and numerically investigated. This nanocomposite exhibits stability and durability during photodegradation. The nanocomposite with a ZnO/CuO ratio of 2.0 synthesized by microwave-assisted hydrothermal at 70 °C in 10 minutes exhibits a photocurrent density of over 1.0 mA.cm⁻² for the ZnO layer and an optimal degradation efficiency of 86.4 %. The photocatalytic efficacy of the ZnO:CuO nanocomposite depends on the current generated by ZnO rather than the total density of photo-induced current. This nanocomposite can be a promising photocatalyst because of its enhanced light absorption and effective suppression of photogenerated electron-hole pair recombination.

Keywords:

• Heterojunction
• microwave-assisted hydrothermal process
• light absorption
• photocatalyst
• nanocomposite

Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to Prof. Marc Burgelman, University of Gent, Belgium for providing the SCAPS software for our study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).