Investigation of Photocatalytic Efficiency of Supported CuO Nanoparticles on Natural Zeolite Particles in Photodegradation of Methyl Orange

Abstract

In the current work, CuO nanoparticles were deposited on natural zeolite’s particles to resolve the drawbacks of zeolite catalysis. The synthesized composites were characterized by XRD, SEM, BET, and DRS analyses. The results illustrated that in the 15% CuO composite, CuO nanoparticles with a size of 21 nm are deposited on the surface of the zeolite particles. Deposition of CuO nanoparticles on zeolite’s particles decreased the specific surface area from 35 m2/g (pure zeolite) to 28 m2/g (20% CuO composite), and causes a red shift in the absorption edge of the sample to 796 nm for 20% CuO composite. In order to compare the samples’ performances in eliminating water pollutants, methyl orange dye removal was investigated. The analyses indicated that the optimum efficiency (85% in 120 min) belongs to zeolite-15% CuO composite with a band gap of 1.70 eV.