Preparation and performance of Cu2O/TiO2 nano-thin film for photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue

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Abstract
Cu2O/TiO2 thin film is obtained by electrodeposition method. The structure and optical properties of thin film are characterised using X-ray diffractometer (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), SEM, Raman, PL and ultraviolet visible spectrophotometer (UV-Vis). Photocatalytic performance of Cu2O/TiO2 thin film and degradation pathways for methylene blue (MB) is also investigated in this paper. The results indicate that the pure Cu2O/TiO2 thin film with the (111) preferential orientation shows a high photocatalytic activity, whose crystal structure exhibits high quality and is characterised by novel Raman optical properties of nanometre spherical morphology. PL and UV-Vis results indicate that Cu2O/TiO2 thin film has an obvious absorption and photoelectric response at the visible light range. After 300°C annealing treatment for the film, the intensity peak of (111) crystal plane and UV-Vis absorption intensity have enhanced 60 and 50%, respectively. The reaction rate constant and photoluminescence intensity are 2.8 and 3.4 times as high as those before annealing treatment. The separated efficiency of electron-hole pairs is increased. More than 99.9% of MB can be degraded in 3 h by Cu2O/TiO2 thin film. Moreover, MB molecule can be decomposed completely. Recycling use of the catalyst has revealed that the film can be reused for 18 times.

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