Facile synthesis of Cu@TiO2 core shell nanowires for efficient photocatalysis

Metallic copper is a dependable co-catalyst for improving photoactivity of TiO2 photocatalysis. Cu@TiO2 core shell nanowires (NWs) were prepared by wet chemical synthesis and characterized. The microscopy images clearly show core shell morphology in nano regime. X-ray diffraction studies reveal the metallic copper and anatase TiO2 crystallinity. The optical absorption spectra exhibit ultraviolet and visible light harvesting properties. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirms the presence of oxidation states of metallic copper and titanium. The photocatalytic efficiency was investigated by degrading the methyl orange (MO) and 3 wt% Cu@TiO2 core shell NWs shows highest degradation rate (k=0.02905 min (1)) with superior photocatalytic activity. This material could be surely meet the necessities to harvest solar energy for many energy-related applications. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.This research work supported by the Basic Science Research Program of the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (NRF-2015R1A1A1A05027848)