Highly efficient visible light photocatalysis of CuC2O4/TiO2 nanocomposite based on photoinduced interfacial charge transfer

• Published in: Applied surface science 2018-11, Vol.457, p.764-772
• Main Authors: Pang, Yuhua, Zhang, Junke, Feng, Caixia, Wang, Yan, Sun, Ning, Liu, Shanhu, Wang, Simeng, Li, Hongtao, Zhao, Haiyan, Ding, Yanting, Zhang, Ling, Zhou, Yanmei, Li, Deliang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: CuC2O4/TiO2; Interfacial charge transfer; Visible light activity
• ISSN: 0169-4332; 1873-5584
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2018.06.288

[Display omitted] •Visible-light-activated CuC2O4/TiO2 was firstly studied for the photo-degradation of organics.•The interfacial charge transfer effect between CuC2O4 and TiO2 was systemically studied.•Compared to Cu (II)-grafted TiO2, CuC2O4/TiO2 displayed superior activity. A series of CuC2O4/TiO2 heterostructures with different mass ratio have been prepared via a simple precipitation method. Compared to bare P25 TiO2 and pure CuC2O4, the as-prepared CuC2O4/TiO2 exhibited superior activity and stability for the degradation of propylene under visible light. Results of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) indicated that there is an intimate interaction between CuC2O4 and P25 TiO2 nanoparticles by means of the coordination bond of O on the surface of TiO2 with Cu atom in CuC2O4 molecular. The strong activity of CuC2O4/TiO2 heterostructure is due to the interfacial charge transfer (IFCT) from the valence band of the TiO2 to the CuC2O4 nanoparticles. In addition, compared to Cu (II)/TiO2 synthesized using the same amount of CuSO4 solution, CuC2O4/TiO2 exhibited much higher visible light activity for the degradation of propylene because of higher atom ratio of Cu to Ti, more visible light absorption and stronger action between CuC2O4 and TiO2.