The study on preparation and the effect of adsorption over photocatalytic activities of Cu2O/titanate nanotubes (Cu2O/TNTs)

Cu2O-loaded titanate nanotubes (Cu2O/TNTs) were prepared by ultrasonication-assisted Cu2+ impregnation reduction method. Experiment shows that the Cu2O nanoparticles (with diameter of 3 nm) were uniformly distributed on the TiO2 nanorods (with diameter of 20 nm). The deposition of Cu2O breaks the nanotubes into nanorods and blocks the neck. The N-2 adsorption-desorption experiments indicates that the Cu2O/TNTs surface area decreased with the increase of Cu2O content. The Cu2O/TNTs nanocomposites presents two absorption edges in UV-vis DRS, and the absorption intensity at visible light region increased with the increase of Cu2O in the Cu2O/INTs while the UV region keeps constant. The adsorption kinetics and visible light irradiated photodegradation kinetics of Cu2O/INTs on methylene blue was systematically investigated. Experiment demonstrates that the adsorption of MB to the catalysts surface is vital for the heterogeneous photocatalysis. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.