Effects of ethylene glycol contents on phase formation, magnetic properties and photocatalytic activity of CuFe2O4/Cu2O/Cu nanocomposite powders synthesized by solvothermal method

In this research, CuFe2O4/Cu2O/Cu nanocomposites were synthesized by the solvothermal method. The consequences of ethylene glycol (ET) as a solvent on phase formation, morphology, and magnetic properties were studied. The powders showed high photocatalytic activity using methylene blue (MB) dye under visible light, and 99.1% degradation was observed without the utilization of H2O2. Various kinetic factors such as pH, catalyst dosage, and initial dye concentration were investigated. It was found that by increasing pH to 9, the highest amount of degradation was obtained. It had also been observed that as the catalyst dosage decreased from 0.2 to 0.1 g, the degradation rate increased from 31.7% to 99.1%. Quenching tests within the presence of center dot O-2(-) radical scavenger (benzoquinone), center dot OH- radical scavenger (isopropyl alcohol), and h(+) radical scavenger (ammonium oxalate) showed that the main oxidizing species were center dot O-2(-) radicals. Furthermore, the magnetic measurements showed that the prepared powders had enough magnetic properties to recycle photocatalysts following water treatment. (C) 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Automated summary

CuFe2O4/Cu2O/Cu nanocomposites were synthesized via solvothermal method in this research, displaying high photocatalytic activity and efficient degradation of methylene blue dye under visible light. Factors like increasing pH and decreasing catalyst dosage were found to significantly affect the catalytic performance.