Synthesis of shape controlled Cu2O and Cu2O/TiO2-QD composite for degradation of Congo red dye under visible-light irradiation

In the present work, truncated octahedron and octahedron shaped Cu2O and Cu2O/TiO2-QD composite have been synthesized using precipitation method and used as a photocatalyst. Synthesized material was characterized by using various analytical techniques- XRD, SEM, TEM and UV-Visible DRS. TEM images clearly shows that the TiO2 was highly dispersed and firmly anchored on single crystals of copper oxide in Cu2O/TiO2-QD composite and also confirmed the truncated octahedron and octahedron shapes of copper oxide. The excellent performance of synthesized Cu2O/TiO2-QD photocatalyst has been proved the maximum degradation (89.00%) of Congo red dye at pH=6. The effect of various parameters in the dye degradation such as influence of pH, amount of photocatalyst, concentration of dye and reusability of the photocatalyst has been studied. The highest degradation rate was found with concentration of Congo red dye 9 mg/L, 150mg/L of Cu2O/TiO2-QD, and 110 min. Thus, the photocatalytic performance of Cu2O/TiO2-QD composite revealed the excellent and effective degradation of Congo-red dye.