CdO nanospheres: Facile synthesis and bandgap modification for the superior photocatalytic activity

The present study reports the bandgap modified CdO nanospheres for an effective photocatalyst for the degradation of organic pollutants for the first time. CdO were successfully synthesized by facile precipitation technique and subsequently characterized by various analytical tools. Interestingly, the bandgap value is modified to 2.59 eV from 2.4 eV for the commercial CdO. The photocatalytic activities of the prepared CdO nanospheres are investigated by the degradation of Rhodamine B dye solution. Since this process does not require any oxidants and also uses in the visible light, it can be developed as an economically feasible and environment-friendly method for the wastewater treatment under sunlight which still is a challenging task in contemporary research. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.