Solar photodegradation of Rhodamine B dye by Cu₂O/TiO₂ heterostructure: experimental and computational studies of...

In this study, the heterojunction Cu₂O/TiO₂ is used for the degradation of a cationic dye, Rhodamine B, under solar light irradiation over a wide pH range. The physical and optical properties of both semiconductors Cu₂O and TiO₂ are correlated with the photo-electrochemical characterization to establish the energy diagram of the heterojunction Cu₂O/TiO₂. X-ray diffraction, UV-visible, SEM, EDX, and BET analyses are conducted for both photocatalysts. The band gap (E_g) of 3.26 eV is obtained for TiO₂ with an indirect optical transition. In the case of Cu₂O, the transition is directly allowed at 2.05 eV. According to the BET analysis, the specific surface area of TiO₂ particles is higher (82.65 m² g^-1) than that of Cu₂O (29.81 m² g^-1). The flat band potentials, determined from the Mott-Schottky plots, are 0.3 and - 0.32 V_SCE for TiO₂ and Cu₂O, respectively. The photocatalytic activity is directly proportional to the mass ratio, and the best result is obtained for the mass ratio 1:1 of Cu₂O/TiO₂.

Furthermore, a theoretical study is conducted by using density functional theory to optimize the structure, reactivity sites of the RhB molecule, and physical parameters like the energy of the frontier molecular orbitals and electronegativity and to predict the proposed mechanism of RhB degradation as well as its intermediates. Also, molecular dynamics simulation is used to determine the adsorption behavior of RhB on TiO₂ (101) and Cu₂O (111) surfaces. The ecotoxicity evaluation showed that degradation products have significantly lower acute toxicity than RhB.