Degradation of dyes using hollow copper microspheres as catalyst

Hollow spheres with nanometer to micrometer dimensions have been of great interest in many areas of science and technology due to their special structure and properties such as large specific area, surface permeability and low density. In this work, hollow copper microspheres were employed as a catalyst to degrade dyes. The microspheres show good catalytic activities in degradation reactions of dyes and maintain their catalytic activity when reused multiple times. The reaction rate of eosin Y (EY) and methylene blue (MB) degradation was enhanced by 7.5-15 times by hollow copper microspheres compared with the control test. Copper is particularly attractive as a catalyst, since it is orders of magnitude cheaper than any noble metal; so the hollow copper microspheres are expected to play an important role in the fields of catalysis and environmental remediation. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.