Spectroscopic investigation of chitosan-supported Cu2O/CuO nanocomposite; a separable catalyst for water-pollutants degradation

Designing nano-products using renewable/sustainable resources, while minimizing the use of hazardous reagents, is a major challenge. A new solid-state preparation route of chitosan-supported copper oxide using ascorbic acid (of biological origin) is developed. This method fulfills the environmental and economic requirements in terms of being a non-toxic, solvent-free, energy saving, and available for mass-production. The powder X-ray diffraction proves the formation of Cu2O/CuO nanoparticles. The scanning and transmission microscopy show the narrow size-distribution of the copper oxide particles. The Fourier transforms infrared and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies provide evidence for the complexation of copper ions with hydroxyl and amino groups of chitosan. The catalytic activity of the chitosan-supported copper oxide nanocomposites is investigated toward a group of organic water-pollutants. The heterogeneous catalyst shows high catalytic activity in reduction of 4-nitrophenol, cationic, anionic dyes, and reactive dyes. The recyclability and reusability issues are efficiently treated here. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.