Indian Journal of Science and Technology
DOI: 10.17485/ijst/2019/v12i45/148384
Year: 2019, Volume: 12, Issue: 45, Pages: 1-11
Original Article
J. William Brown1, P.S. Ramesh2,* and D. Geetha1
1 Department of Physics, Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu, India; [email protected], [email protected]
2 Physics Wing DDE, Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu, India; [email protected]
Objectives: To characterize and to know the nature of the synthesized products and identify the photocatalytic response of the hybrid nanocomposites was investigated by the decolourization of (MB) dye under natural Sunlight radiation. Methods/statistical analysis: We report fabrication of mesoporous nanocomposites (Fe–CuS, Cd–CuS, Zr–CuS) with uniform nanostructures via a hydrothermal method employing copper nitrate trihydrate (Cu (NO3).3H2O), Thiourea (Tu,Sc(NH2)2, Iron trinitrate (Fe(No3)3), (Cd(No3)3) and (Zr(No3)3) as starting materials with cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as stabilizer/ size controller and ethylene glycol as solvent at 130˚C temperature. The products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Transmission Electron Microscopy TEM, and UV-Vis spectrum (UV) analysis. Findings: X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra confirmed the Fe doped copper sulfide nanocomposites are crystalline in nature with the hexagonal CuS phase. XRD pattern showed Fe doped spherical structure of CuS with a grain size of 21 nm. An intense surface Plasmon resonance between 250–300 nm in the UV–Vis spectrum clearly reveals the formation of Fe doped copper sulfide nanocomposites. The XRD pattern of Cd incorporated CuS shows crystallite nature and crystallinity increases with the addition of cadmium on CuS. The observed results show that Zr is homogeneously dispersed on CuS and well separated from one another. The XRD results confirm the presence of well-dispersed cubic ZrS2 on the covellite CuS surface. Photo reactivity of copper sulfide nanoparticles as undoped and doped with ferrous, cadmium and Zirconium were studied in the decolorization of methylene blue under natural sunlight. The concentration of dopants and concentration of dye are variables that influence the photoreactivity of nanocatalysts. Application/improvements: The prepared nanoparticles CuS, Fe–CuS, Cd–CuS and Zr–CuS show the most degradation efficiency. The optimum dosage of the photocatalyst was 120 mg/L. In the optimized conditions, the degradation efficiency was 86–95% for methylene blue in irradiation time of 150 min.
Keywords: Nanophotocatalyst, Copper Sulfide, Methylene Blue, Photodegradation.
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