Abstract
In this contribution, the fabrication and design of mesoporous CuO/Co3O4 heterostructures at various CuO contents (0.3–1.2%) using a facile strategy was performed to efficiently degrade Foron Blue (FB) dye during illumination by visible light. The results indicated that the degradation efficiency for CuO/Co3O4 heterostructures is much better than pristine Co3O4 NPs and 0.9%CuO/Co3O4 verified the largest photocatalytic efficiency among all synthesized photocatalysts. Complete degradation of FB dye was achieved within 60 min, and the 0.9%CuO/Co3O4 heterostructure demonstrated a high degradation rate of 5.43 μmolL−1 min−1 with larger two times than that pristine Co3O4 NPs (2.85 μmolL−1 min−1) during the photocatalytic process. This indicated that the effects of coupling and synergism of CuO/Co3O4 play a strong role in enhancing photocatalytic performances compared with the surface area of the synthesized photocatalysts. Recycling runs evidenced that mesoporous CuO/Co3O4 heterojunction was quite stable, and the FB dye degradation efficiency was reduced by 5% after the five times from 100% to 95%. The work suggested that the design of CuO/Co3O4 heterojunctions could be an efficient avenue to promote degradation efficiency under visible light illumination.
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•Synthesis of porous CuO/Co3O4 heterostructures was achieved with high surface area.•Complete photodegradation of Foron Blue (FB) dye was achieved within 60 min.•Photodegradation rate of CuO/Co3O4 larger two times than that pristine Co3O4 NPs.•CuO/Co3O4 heterostructures was indicated long term stability without any loss.