Facile synthesis of green engineered CuO/Cu2O-C nano heterostructures with the controlled Cu2O content for the photodegradation of crystal violet

Abstract

Copper oxide/cuprous oxide and carbon heterostructured nanocomposites (CuO/Cu2O-C NCs) were fabricated using an agro-biomass wheatgrass extract (WGE), presenting an innovative, eco-friendly, and facile green synthetic approach. The CuO/Cu2O-C nanocomposites engineered using WGE were extensively characterized using UV-Vis, IR, XRD, DLS, XPS, SEM, TEM, BET, and TGA characterization techniques. The synthesized CuO/Cu2O-C NCs were crystalline with a monoclinic phase and an average crystallite size of 32 nm, as confirmed by XRD. Tauc plots were utilized to calculate the band gap energies (2.05 and 1.53 eV). The synthetic procedure is optimized, and the effect of plant extract in the controlled synthesis of Cu2O content in the CuO/Cu2O-C NCs was investigated. These green CuO/Cu2O-C NCs were tested for photocatalytic activity. A detailed kinetic study was conducted to degrade pathological effluent crystal violet (CV). The nanocomposite with a higher concentration of Cu2O is potentially a superior photocatalyst and demonstrated an excellent synergistic action, removing around 80% of the crystal violet stain in visible light. Apart from photodegradation, these CuO/Cu2O-C NCs were good antioxidants and displayed good antibacterial activity against the gram-positive and gram-negative bacterial strains. The key highlight of this work is the low-cost disruptive engineering strategy for synthesizing frugal nanomaterials for multifaceted applications.