Abstract
The present study describes fabrication and electrochemical classification of one-dimensional CeO2-Cu2O nanofibers for photocatalysis and supercapacitor application. The utilized CeO2-Cu2O composite was prepared by sol-gel electrospinning method using Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), Ce(NO3)(3).6H(2)O and Cu (CH3CO)2 as precursors. The physicochemical properties of the synthesized samples were characterized using special characterization approaches such as X-ray diffractometer (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). As compared to pristine CeO2, the UV-vis spectrum of CeO2-Cu2O composite exhibited the absorption peak which shifted to higher wavelength. The photocatalytic activity results indicated the substantial degradation of MB dye by similar to 92% over the surface of CeO2-Cu2O nanocomposite catalyst under visible light illumination. The CeO2-Cu2O composite possessed higher photocatalytic activity and electrochemical capacitance than the pristine samples as supercapacitor electrode materials. The CeO2-Cu2O composite exhibits a specific capacitance of 329.64 F g(-1) at 5 mV s(-1), which is higher than that of the pristine CeO2 (192.5 F g(-1)) nanofibers. These results suggest the applicability of fabricated composite nanofibers as visible light active photocatalyst and as electrode material for supercapacitors. (C) 2016 The Society of Powder Technology Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. and The Society of Powder Technology Japan. All rights reserved.