Anionic surfactant assisted copper hydroxide for toxic dye removal from wastewater

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Environmental Chemistry
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Wastewater treatment is crucial for water scarcity and organic pollutant removal.
• Copper hydroxide (Cu(OH)2) is a potential material for photocatalysis.
• Optimizing nanomaterial synthesis is key to enhancing efficiency.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize and characterize pure and sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) assisted copper hydroxide (Cu(OH)2) nanomaterials.
• To investigate the effect of SDS concentration on the structural, optical, and morphological properties of Cu(OH)2.
• To evaluate the photocatalytic activity of the synthesized materials for Methylene Blue dye degradation.

Main Methods:

• Co-precipitation technique for synthesizing pure and SDS-assisted Cu(OH)2.
• X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) for characterization.
• UV-Vis spectroscopy for bandgap determination and photocatalytic degradation experiments.

Main Results:

• XRD confirmed the formation of Cu(OH)2 with crystallite sizes of 25 nm (pure), 23 nm (1% SDS), and 21 nm (2% SDS).
• Bandgap energies were determined as 2.86 eV (pure), 2.81 eV (1% SDS), and 2.72 eV (2% SDS).
• SEM revealed nanoclusters and nanosheets, with SDS reducing nanosheet thickness and cluster size.
• 2% SDS-assisted Cu(OH)2 achieved 98% Methylene Blue dye degradation efficiency.

Conclusions:

• SDS addition effectively reduces crystallite size and bandgap energy of Cu(OH)2.
• The enhanced photocatalytic activity of 2% SDS-assisted Cu(OH)2 is attributed to its narrow bandgap and optimized morphology.
• This material shows significant potential for efficient removal of organic pollutants from wastewater.