Photocatalytic degradation of Acid Blue 62 over CuO-SnO2 nanocomposite photocatalyst under simulated sunlight.

The novel CuO-SnO2 nanocomposite oxide photocatalysts were prepared by simple co-precipitation method, and characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, N2 adsorption-desorption measurement and UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activities of CuO-SnO2, evaluated using the photodegradation of Acid Blue 62 as a probe reaction under the irradiation of Xenon light, were also found to be related to the calcination temperature and the molar ratio of Cu to Sn. The maximum photocatalytic activity of the CuO-SnO2 photocatalyst was observed to be calcined at 500 degrees C for 3 h (the molar ratio of Cu to Sn was 1:1) due to the sample with good crystallization and high surface area. It also showed much higher photocatalytic activity in treatment dye wastewater under simulated sunlight irradiation compared to Degussa P25 TiO2.