Heterojunctioned CuO/Cu2O catalyst for highly efficient ozone removal

Investigation of catalytic activity of metal doped nanocages (Ni-C72 and Ni-Al36P36) for ozone decomposition to oxygen molecules

CONTEXT

The potential of Ni-C72 and Ni-Al36P36 as effective catalysts for O3 decomposition is examined by LH and ER mechanisms. The activation barrier energy and Gibbs free energy of reaction steps for O3 decomposition on Ni-C72 and Ni-Al36P36 are calculated. The ∆Eformation of Ni-C72 and Ni-Al36P36 are negative values and these structures are stable nano-catalysts. The Ni atoms are catalytic positions to adsorb the O3 and other important species of O3 decomposition by LH and ER mechanisms. The Ni-Al36P36 for O3 decomposition has lower Eacivation and more negative ∆Greaction than Ni-C72. The Eacivation value of rate-determining step for O3 decomposition by LH mechanism is lower than ER mechanism. The Ni-C72 and Ni-Al36P36 can catalyze the reaction steps of O3 decomposition by LH and ER mechanisms.

METHODS

The structures of Ni-C72 and Ni-Al36P36 nanocages and their complexes with O3 and other important species of are optimized by PW91PW91/6-311 + G (2d, 2p) model and M06-2X/cc-pVQZ model in GAMESS software. The strcutures of nanocages and their complexes with important species of O3 decomposition by LH and ER mechanisms are optimized and their frequencies are calculated in order to demonstrate that these structures are real minima on the potential energy surface.

Effect of the green synthesis of CuO plate-like nanoparticles on their photodegradation and antibacterial activities

Green synthesis of copper oxide nanoparticles and its effects on photocatalytic dye degradation and antibacterial activities are reported. The synthesis of nanoparticles by green routes provides many advantages over chemical routes, including simplicity, cost-effectiveness, and fast processing route without using any costly or harmful chemicals. Tridax procumbense (coat buttons) plant root extract was used to synthesize copper oxide nanoparticles. The synthesized Tridax procumbense-copper oxide nanoparticles (TP-CuO NPs) were characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering spectroscopy (DLS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. The synthesized TP-CuO NPs were applied for photocatalytic dye degradation and antibacterial activity studies. The TP-CuO NPs exhibited a maximum antibacterial activity at 500 μg mL^-1 concentration against Staphylococcus aureus and E. coli showing inhibition zones of 7.5 mm and 7.2 mm, respectively. The photocatalytic ability of the TP-CuO was also tested against the textile dye Trypan blue (TB), and showed about 55% degradation after 48 h for 500 μg mL^-1 CuO NP concentration, showing a concentration-dependent degradation efficiency. This is the first work on TP-derived CuO nanoparticles and their photocatalytic and antimicrobial applications. Overall, this study supports the superiority of green-synthesized TP-CuO NPs as photocatalytic and antimicrobial agents.