Abstract
Dandelion-like CuO microspheres with the size of ∼1-2 m were synthesized by ultrasound method without any surfactants. The crystallinity, morphology, composition of products and optical properties were characterized by x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectrometer, Fourier transform infrared and UV-vis absorption spectroscopy. The crystal size and optical band gap of CuO nanoparticles were found to be 6.51 nm and 1.70 eV and their photocatalytic ability towards reactive black-5 was analyzed. The observed experimental results revealed that the Dandelion-like CuO microspheres possess good photocatalytic activity i.e., around 76% dye was degraded in 5 h under visible light illumination at room temperature and the degradation follows the pseudo-first order kinetics with a rate constant of 0.312 h−1. Suitable growth mechanism was also proposed for the formation of Dandelion-like CuO microspheres.