Fabrication, characterization, and photocatalytic degradation of malachite green by CuO nanocatalyst

Abstract

Solid state synthesis of CuO nanophotocatalyst is reported in the present work using copper salts raw materials at 600 ºC for 5 h. X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) technique was used to characterize the prepared nanomaterials. Rietveld analysis data confirmed the high purity of the prepared samples. The XRD data showed that the peaks belong to monoclinic structure with a space group of C2/c. The Rietveld data indicated that the cell parameters are a=4.68244, b=3.42366, c=5.12641 Å and β=99.46º for S1, a= 4.68073, b=3.42521, c=5.13221 Å and β=99.36º for S2 and a=4.68233, b=3.42396, c=5.12941 Å and β=99.30º for S3. The morphology of the prepared samples was investigated by FESEM technique. The FESEM images showed that the synthesized CuO compounds had particle morphology with the particle size of 22–50 nm. The photocatalytic performance of the obtained target was studied to degrade malachite green (MG) from wastewater solution.