Fabrication of CuS/CuO nanowire heterostructures on copper mesh with improved visible light photocatalytic properties

CuS/CuO nanowire heterostructures grown on copper mesh (CuS/CuO/Cu) have been successfully synthesized by a liquid-solid reaction at room temperature followed by annealing. The proposed structure has been verified by X-ray diffraction analysis. Scanning electron microscopy images have indicated that the density and diameter of CuS nanoparticles on CuO nanowires can be tuned by controlling the duration of sulfonation with Na2S. Photocatalytic studies have revealed that CuS/CuO/Cu heterostructures offer improved photocatalytic activity in the degradation of Methylene Blue (MB) in the presence of H2O2. A sample designated as CuS/CuO/Cu-10, where 10 denotes sulfonation with Na2S for 10 min, showed the best photocatalytic properties, with MB degradation efficiencies under visible light irradiation of 87.4% after 20 min and 98.6% after 40 min. The enhanced photocatalytic activity can be attributed to effective electron-hole separation and improved visible light utilization due to the cooperative effect of the CuS/CuO heterostructures and conductive copper mesh.