Studies on dye degradation applications of copper oxide nanocomposite synthesized through novel two step synthesis approach

Abstract

In current decade, nitro aromatic compounds are environmentally newlineredundant materials due to outcome of the dyes from industries which are newlinewidely used in pesticides, plastics and explosives chemicals. Among various newlinenitro aromatic compounds, 4-nirtophenol (4-NP) is an example of toxic newlinesubstance that exists in industrial effluents and classified as precedence newlinepollutant by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Therefore, newlineenvironment friendly technique has established to remove them from waste newlinewater is the direct reduction of 4-NP in the existence of NaBH4 and a catalyst newlineto 4-aminophenol (4-AP), which is one of the most valuable intermediate for newlineantipyretic drug, manufacture of analgesic and paint industry and also can be newlineused as the corrosion inhibitor, photographic developer, lubricant additive, newlineanticorrosion and hair-dyeing agent. The NaBH4 is the important reducing newlineagent for catalytic activity owing to its several advantages like easy to work at newlinethe experimental condition, safe to handle, rapid reduction, no pressure newlineapparatus required and good selectivity in the reduction of nitro compounds. newlineIn the past two decades, heterostructured nanomaterials are having more newlineattention in the area of catalysis due to their numerous functionalities and newlineoutstanding catalytic activity, selectivity and stability over monometallic newlinenanomaterials. Therefore, metal incorporated metal oxide nanostructured newlineparticles have drawn particular attention in catalytic applications due to their newlineflexible catalytic activities, electronic properties and high surface area. Hence newlinein the present investigation, CuO/Ag and CuO/Ag/Au nanocomposites newlinematerial were synthesized via two step approach for catalytic activity. During newlinethe catalytic reduction process, 4-NP is changed into 4-AP as well as MB is newlinereduced into LMB by adding NaBH4. The semiconductor metal oxides of newlineCu2O and CuO nanostructures exhibited excellent catalytic activities owing to newlinetheir high oxidation-reduction potential values, low cost, non-toxicity, newline