Solution combustion synthesized TiO2/Bi2O3/CuO nano-composites and their photocatalytic activity using visible LEDs assisted photoreactor

In this work we have synthesized a series of binary TiO2/Bi2O3 and ternary TiO2/Bi2O3/CuO composites having different amount of Bi2O3 and CuO using the facile solution combustion approach. The characteristics of samples were identified using the X-ray diffraction (XRD), X- ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UVDRS) techniques. The Rhodamine B was taken as the organic pollutant to determine the photocatalytic efficiency of the materials under ultra-low power consumption visible LEDs as the source of light. The results demonstrate that the synthesized compounds possess good crystallinity and improved optical characteristics after introduction of Bi2O3 and CuO. The ternary sample having 10% of Bi2O3 and 10% of CuO showed the highest photoremoval of RhB which might be due of the formation of heterojunctions and improved optical characteristics towards the visible region. The beauty of the synthesized samples is their fast rate of removal of pollutant under visible LEDs which is beneficial for development of cost-effective water purification technique.

Automated summary

In this study, a series of TiO2/Bi2O3 and TiO2/Bi2O3/CuO composites were synthesized using the facile solution combustion approach, showing good optical characteristics and high photocatalytic efficiency for organic pollutant removal. The ternary composite with 10% Bi2O3 and 10% CuO exhibited the best photocatalytic performance, possibly due to the formation of heterojunctions and improved optical characteristics towards the visible region. The synthesized samples demonstrated fast removal of pollutants under visible LEDs, which is beneficial for cost-effective water purification techniques.