Nanocubic copper cobaltite for methyl orange degradation through photocatalytic process

In this study, cubic spinel structured CuCo₂O₄ (Copper cobaltite) nanospheres were fabricated by thermal decomposition method. The visible light degradation of organic contaminant methyl orange (MO) was focused in this study using the synthesized pure CuO, Co₃O₄ and CuCo₂O₄ with different weight ratios of raw materials (90:10, 75:25 and 50:50). It could be well realized that after the characterization techniques, the synthesized CuCo₂O₄ materials resembled cubic spinel structure as confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) investigation. Meanwhile, all the synthesized materials through transmission electron microscopy (TEM) have showed cubic shaped particles and among the CuCo₂O₄ materials, CuCo₂O₄ (50:50) expressed not as much of crystallinity due to the agglomerated nanospheres. On the other hand, well crystalline CuCo₂O₄ (75:25) displayed higher surface area than the other materials when analysed through Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method. The Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) spectrum has evinced the formation of CuCo₂O₄ nanostructures. In addition, the cubic spinel structured CuCo₂O₄ provided positive results over visible light irradiation. Finally, the CuCo₂O₄ (75:25) sample has scored high as much of 85% MO degradation compared with others. This sample was progressed with repetitive recycling tests and presented the best photocatalytic degradation efficiency. The upgraded results of CuCo₂O₄ sample have been linked with the developed synergistic effects during the formation of binary metal oxides. Also, the interfacial electron-hole formation leads to the migration and hindering of charge carriers for visible light activity.