CuBO2 nanonetwork: A novel and significant candidate for photocatalytic dye degradation

Abstract

CuBO2 is a novel material in the research field of transparent conducting oxide. In this study, CuBO2 nanostructures have been synthesized via sol-gel method. The phase formation is confirmed using an X-ray diffractometer. Detailed morphological analysis is performed by field emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Anovel uniform nanonetwork-like structure is obtained and its band gap is found to be 4.24eV. In ultraviolet light irradiation, this as-synthesized sample shows efficient photocatalytic activity for degradation of organic dye Rhodamine B. The degradation efficiency and the rate constant were calculated as ∼70% and 1.32 × 10-3 min-1, respectively. This nanonetwork-like structure can be a potential candidate as the base material to attach various metals and metal oxide nanostructures to get highly efficient future photocatalysts. As a result, this study opens up a new gateway to fabricate novel environment-friendly nanocatalysts with high performance.