title: Visible-light-driven photodegradation of sulfamethoxazole and methylene blue by Cu2O/rGO photocatalysts.
abstract: The cuprous oxide-reduced graphene oxide (Cu2O/rGO-x) composites were prepared via a simple wet-chemical method by using CuSO4·5H2O and graphene oxide as precursors and ascorbic acid as a reducing agent, respectively. These Cu2O/rGO-x were employed as photocatalysts for degrading emerging contaminants and organic dye pollutants (i.e., sulfamethoxazole (SMX) and methylene blue (MB)) under visible light. A variety of different spectroscopic and analytical techniques, such as X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman scattering spectroscopy and UV-Visible spectroscopy were used to characterize the physical properties of photocatalysts. In the photodegrading experiments, it can be found that the Cu2O/rGO-80 photocatalyst has the superior visible-light response of ca. 50% removal efficiency of SMX within 120 min and 100% removal efficiency of MB within 40 min. These observations may be attributed the well-dispersed and visible-light-responsive Cu2O nanoparticles are supported on the surface of rGO sheets that can enhance absorption of visible light during photocatalysis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70101, Taiwan. Electronic address: shliu@mail.ncku.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Shou-Heng
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70101, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yu-Shao
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 70101, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Jun-Sheng
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lu
mesh_terms: D002384:Catalysis; D003300:Copper / Q000737:chemistry*; D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry*; D008027:Light; D008751:Methylene Blue / Q000737:chemistry*; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry; D010782:Photolysis; D013420:Sulfamethoxazole / Q000737:chemistry*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D006108:Graphite; D003300:Copper; D013420:Sulfamethoxazole; D008751:Methylene Blue; C000520:cuprous oxide
keywords: Cu(2)O/rGO; Emerging contaminants; Photocatalysis; Sulfamethoxazole; Visible light