Synthesis of well-aligned CuO nanowire array integrated with nanoporous CuO network for oxidative degradation of methylene blue

In this paper, we report the fabrication of a 3D free-standing CuO nanowire array supported by nanoporous CuO network by dealloying Cu60Zr35Al5 glassy ribbon and the subsequent thermal oxidation. The CuO nanocomposite exhibits a hierarchical nanostructure containing well-aligned CuO nanowire array and nanoporous substrate with continuous nanoporosity. The resulting nanocomposite product with high internal surface area shows superior degradation performance for methylene blue in the presence of H2O2 than that of commercial CuO nanoparticles. The remarkable catalytic activity along with good reusability and stability during degradation make the as-prepared nanocomposite a promising candidate for purifying wastewater with organic dyes.