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. 2020 Sep 23;6(9):e04896.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04896. eCollection 2020 Sep.

Optimization of green biosynthesized visible light active CuO/ZnO nano-photocatalysts for the degradation of organic methylene blue dye

Amr Fouda  1 , Salem S Salem  1 , Ahmed R Wassel  2 , Mohammed F Hamza  3   4 , Th I Shaheen  5
Affiliations

Optimization of green biosynthesized visible light active CuO/ZnO nano-photocatalysts for the degradation of organic methylene blue dye

Amr Fouda et al. Heliyon. .

Abstract

Herein, CuO/ZnO nanocomposites at different ratios were successfully synthesized through a green biosynthesis approach. This was performed by harnessing the fungal-secreted enzymes and proteins during the sol-gel process for nanocomposites seed growth. All fabricated nanoparticles/nanocomposites were characterized using Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FT-IR) Spectroscopy, X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM-EDX) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) analyses. The photocatalytic degradation efficacy of the synthesized nanocomposites was evaluated using a cationic methylene blue (MB) dye as a model of reaction. Results obtained from the FT-IR and EDX analyses revealed that CuO-NPs, ZnO-NPs, CuO/ZnO50/50, CuO/ZnO80/20, and CuO/ZnO20/80 were successfully prepared by harnessing the biomass filtrate of Penicillium corylophilum As-1. Furthermore, XRD and TEM revealed the variation in the particle size of the nanocomposites (10-55 nm) with the ratio of the nanoparticles. Notably, the size of the nanocomposites was proportionally increased with an increasing ratio of ZnO-NPs. XPS analysis affirmed the presence of both Cu and Zn in the nanocomposites with varying binding energies compared with individual nanoparticles. Furthermore, a high photo-degradation efficacy was achieved by increasing the ratio of ZnO-NPs in the nanocomposite formulation, and 97% of organic MB dye was removed after 85 min of irradiation using the CuO/ZnO20/80 nanocomposite.

Keywords: Biosynthesis; CuO; Materials chemistry; Materials science; Nanocomposites; Nanotechnology; Penicillium corylophilum; Photocatalyst; ZnO.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart showing biosynthesis of ZnO-NPs, CuO-NPs and nanocomposites using biomass filtrate of P. corylophilum As-1.
Figure 2
Figure 2
XRD analysis of bio-fabricated CuO-NPs, ZnO-NPs and their nanocomposites at different ratios.
Figure 3
Figure 3
FT-IR spectra of CuO-NPs, ZnO-NPs and their composites at different ratios synthesized by P. corylophilum As-1.
Figure 4
Figure 4
TEM and SEM-EDX analysis of NPs. A-1 to A-3 denotes TEM and SEM-EDX for CuO-NPs; B-1 to B-3 denotes TEM and SEM-EDX for ZnO-NPs; C-1 to C-3 denotes TEM and SEM-EDX for CuO/ZnO50/50; D-1 to D-3 denotes TEM and SEM-EDX for CuO/ZnO20/80; E-1 to E-3 denotes TEM and SEM-EDX for CuO/ZnO80/20.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Overview and Core XPS analysis for CuO-NPs and ZnO-NPs synthesized by P. corylophilum As-1.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Core XPS analysis for CuO/ZnO nanocomposites with different ratios synthesized by P. corylophilum As-1.
Figure 7
Figure 7
(A) denote diffuse reflection spectra for CuO-NPs, ZnO-NPs and their composites; (B, C, D, E and F) denotes plot of [F(R)∗E] 2 against Photon energy (hυ) for all synthesized NPs.
Figure 8
Figure 8
The photo-degradation mechanism for Methylene Blue dye in the presence of Cuo@Zno nanocomposite
Figure 9
Figure 9
UV-vis spectra of methylene blue dye for ZnO-NPs, CuO-NPs, CuO/ZnO50/50, CuO/ZnO80/20, and CuO/ZnO20/80.
Figure 10
Figure 10
(A) Time degradation curves, (B) plot of ln(C/C0) against time (min), (C) Photo degradation (D%) Vs time (min) of visible light.
Figure 11
Figure 11
The reusability of nanocomposites after 10 cycles of running.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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