Tilia Platyphyllos Extract Assisted Green Synthesis of CuO/TiO2 Nanocomposite: Application as a Reusable Catalyst for the Reduction of Organic Dyes in Water

Abstract

In this paper, CuO nanoparticles are synthesized using Tilia platyphyllos extract as reducing and stabilizing agents and TiO2are prepared via facile sol-gel method as an ideal support. FT-IR spectroscopy, UV-Vis spectroscopy, X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS), and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) were used to characterize TiO2, CuONPs, and CuO/ TiO2 nanocomposite. The catalytic activity of the CuO/ TiO2 nanocomposite was investigated for the reduction of Methyl Orange (MO), and Methylene Blue (MB) at room temperature. CuO/ TiO2 nanocomposite can was found to be a highly active catalyst. In addition, it was found that CuO/ TiO2 nanocomposite can be<br />recovered and reused several times without significant loss for its catalytic activity.<br /><br />