Author(s)

Leinig Perazolli, Luciana Nuñez, Milady Renata Apolinário da Silva, Guilherme Francisco Pegler, Ademir Geraldo Cavalarri Costalonga, Rossano Gimenes, Márcia Matiko Kondo, Maria Aparecida Zaghete Bertochi

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In the present work, the hybrid catalyst films of TiO₂/CuO containing up to 10% in mol of copper were deposited onto glass surface. Precursor solutions were obtained by citrate precursor method. Films were porous and the average particle size was 20 nm determined by FEG-SEM analysis. The photocatalytic activities of these films were studied using Rhodamine B as a target compound in a fixed bed reactor developed in our laboratory and UV lamp. It was observed that the addition of copper to TiO₂ increased significantly its photocatalytic activity during the oxidation of Rhodamine B. The degradation exceeded 90% within 48 hours of irradiation compared to 38% when pure TiO₂ was used. Moreover, there was a reduction in the particles band gap energy when compared to that of pure TiO₂. These results indicate that the TiO₂/CuO films are promising catalysts for the development of fixed bed reactors to be used to treat effluents containing azo dyes.

TiO₂/CuO, Citrate Precursor Method, Thin Film, Rhodamine B, Photocatalytic Oxidation

L. Perazolli, L. Nuñez, M. Silva, G. Pegler, A. Costalonga, R. Gimenes, M. Kondo and M. Bertochi, "TiO₂/CuO Films Obtained by Citrate Precursor Method for Photocatalytic Application," Materials Sciences and Applications, Vol. 2 No. 6, 2011, pp. 564-571. doi: 10.4236/msa.2011.26075.