TY - JOUR
T1 - Impacts of copper-containing precursors on the photocatalytic activity of Cu-modified ZnO nanoparticles
AU - Nguyen, The Luan
AU - Le, Tien Khoa
AU - Lund, Torben
AU - Nguyen, Huu Khanh Hung
AU - Huynh, Thi Kieu Xuan
N1 - Funding Information:
This research is funded by the Vietnam National Foundation for Science and Technology Development (NAFOSTED) under grant number 104.03-2016.43.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Cu-modified ZnO photocatalysts were prepared using a thermal shock method with different copper-containing precursors (Cu(NO3)2, Cu(CH3COO)2, CuSO4) in order to study the impacts of the thermal shock method on the photocatalytic activity of ZnO under both UVA light and visible light irradiation. The influences of copper-containing precursors on the crystal structure, morphology, surface structure and surface composition were investigated by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The UVA-light and visible-light-induced photocatalytic activities were evaluated through the degradation of methylene blue. According to the experimental results, ZnO catalysts modified with Cu(NO3)2 and Cu(CH3COO)2 exhibited higher performance than unmodified ZnO, which may be explained by the formation of oxygen vacancies and Cu(I) species on the surface of modified oxides. However, when ZnO was modified by CuSO4, the absence of oxygen vacancies and the presence of large sulphate ions on the ZnO surface were supposed to be the factors decreasing its photocatalytic activity.
AB - Cu-modified ZnO photocatalysts were prepared using a thermal shock method with different copper-containing precursors (Cu(NO3)2, Cu(CH3COO)2, CuSO4) in order to study the impacts of the thermal shock method on the photocatalytic activity of ZnO under both UVA light and visible light irradiation. The influences of copper-containing precursors on the crystal structure, morphology, surface structure and surface composition were investigated by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The UVA-light and visible-light-induced photocatalytic activities were evaluated through the degradation of methylene blue. According to the experimental results, ZnO catalysts modified with Cu(NO3)2 and Cu(CH3COO)2 exhibited higher performance than unmodified ZnO, which may be explained by the formation of oxygen vacancies and Cu(I) species on the surface of modified oxides. However, when ZnO was modified by CuSO4, the absence of oxygen vacancies and the presence of large sulphate ions on the ZnO surface were supposed to be the factors decreasing its photocatalytic activity.
KW - Copper-containing precursors
KW - Oxygen vacancies
KW - Photocatalysis
KW - Surface modification
KW - Thermal shock
KW - XPS
KW - ZnO
U2 - 10.1504/IJNT.2020.111321
DO - 10.1504/IJNT.2020.111321
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85096807954
SN - 1475-7435
VL - 17
SP - 514
EP - 528
JO - International Journal of Nanotechnology
JF - International Journal of Nanotechnology
IS - 7-10
ER -