Photocatalytic degradation of trypan blue and methyl orange azo dyes by cerium loaded CuO nanoparticles

Abstract Pure and cerium loaded CuO nanoparticles (CCO NPs) were synthesized by a simple precipitation – thermal decomposition method and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive spectra (EDS), diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS), photoluminescence (PL), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and BET surface area measurements. The photo catalytic activity of pure, commercial and optimized Ce-loaded CuO catalyst was studied for the degradation of azo dyes such as Methyl Orange (MO) and Trypan Blue (TB) under UV light irradiation. CCO was found to be more competent in the degradation of two azo dyes than pure and commercial CuO. The mineralization of MO and TB has been confirmed by chemical oxygen demand (COD) measurements. A possible mechanism for the degradation was proposed for CCO. This catalyst can be reused and it was more stable without loss of their activity even at third cycles.