Preparation of flower-like Cu2O/ZnO for removal of dyes from aqueous medium

Abstract

Flower-like Cu2O/ZnO was prepared by hydrothermal method with the reducing agent of glucose for removal of dyes in aqueous medium. As-prepared samples were characterized by FE-SEM, XRD, and TEM. Flower-like Cu2O/ZnO could both photodegrade Tartrazine (TA) under UV and visible lights with the removal efficiencies of 85.3 and 96.1 %, respectively, and adsorbed TA with the removal efficiency of 77.5 %. The effects of adsorbent dosage, dye concentration, and pH solution on adsorption of dyes were investigated. The kinetic adsorption of TA on flower-like Cu2O/ZnO was studied by pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order models. In addition, the performance of as-prepared material was evaluated by cyclic test and adsorption of other dyes such as methylene blue, Janus green B and Congo red.