Photocatalytic degradation of triclosan by oxygen defected CuO thin film

CuO thin films with oxygen defects (oxygen vacancy and oxygen excess) were prepared by sputter deposition from stochiometric CuO target. Presence of Oxygen defects was confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Effect of oxygen vacancy and excess on the photocatalytic activity (Triclosan (TS) degradation) of CuO thin films under sunlight irradiation was investigated. Generation of oxygen vacancy (lower than optimum concentration) and excess considerably improved the thin film photocatalytic activity. In original work, the photocatalytic activity of the samples with oxygen vacancy was compared to the ones with oxygen excess. Moreover, the durability of the samples (oxygen vacancy and excess) after several cycles was investigated. The samples with oxygen excess showed better photocatalytic activity; though, the durability of samples with oxygen vacancy was significantly superior to the ones with oxygen excess after 5 cycles.