Synthesis and enhanced photocatalytic performance of 0D/2D CuO/tourmaline composite photocatalysts

Changqiang Yu; Min Wen; Zhen Tong; Shuhua Li; Yanhong Yin; Xianbin Liu; Yesheng Li; Tongxiang Liang; Ziping Wu; Dionysios D Dionysiou

doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.31

Synthesis and enhanced photocatalytic performance of 0D/2D CuO/tourmaline composite photocatalysts

Beilstein J Nanotechnol. 2020 Mar 2:11:407-416. doi: 10.3762/bjnano.11.31. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Changqiang Yu¹, Min Wen¹, Zhen Tong¹, Shuhua Li¹, Yanhong Yin^{1

2

3}, Xianbin Liu¹, Yesheng Li¹, Tongxiang Liang¹, Ziping Wu¹, Dionysios D Dionysiou²

Affiliations

¹ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jiangxi University of Science and Technology, Ganzhou 341000, China.
² Environmental Engineering and Science Program, Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA.
³ Chongyi Zhangyuan Tungsten Co., Ltd., Ganzhou 341000, China.

Abstract

Photocatalysis is considered to be a green and promising technology for transforming organic contaminants into nontoxic products. In this work, a CuO/tourmaline composite with zero-dimensional/two-dimensional (0D/2D) CuO architecture was successfully obtained via a facile hydrothermal process, and its photocatalytic activity was evaluated by the degradation of methylene blue (MB). Surface element valence state and molecular vibration characterization revealed that CuO chemically interacted with tourmaline via Si-O-Cu bonds. The specific surface area of the CuO/tourmaline composite (23.60 m² g^-1) was larger than that of the pristine CuO sample (3.41 m² g^-1). The CuO/tourmaline composite exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of MB, which was ascribed to the increase in the quantity of the adsorption-photoreactive sites and the efficient utilization of the photoinduced charge carriers. This study provides a facile strategy for the construction of 0D/2D CuO structures and the design of tourmaline-based functional composite photocatalysts for the treatment of organic contaminants in water.

Keywords: 0D/2D CuO; organic contaminants; photocatalytic activity; photoinduced charge separation; tourmaline.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the China Scholarship Council (201908360233). D. D. Dionysiou also acknowledges support from the University of Cincinnati through a UNESCO co-Chair Professor position on “Water Access and Sustainability” and the Herman Schneider Professorship in the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences.