Facile synthesis of CuCr2O4/BiOBr nanocomposite and its photocatalytic activity towards RhB and tetracycline hydrochloride degradation under household visible LED light irradiation

Abstract Here we report the development of CuCr2O4/BiOBr nanocomposite photocatalysts for the first time to serve the purpose of rhodamine B (RhB) and tetracycline hydrochloride (TC-HCl) degradation using household visible light emitting diode (LED) light. In this nanocomposite, sol-gel combustion made spherical shaped CuCr2O4 nanoparticles are decorated on BiOBr plates in single pot via precipitation method using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as the Br source as well as the template. The present investigation highlights a significant advancement to tackle the challenge of visible light induced photocatalytic degradation of harmful organic dye RhB and antibiotic-pollutant TC-HCl. The 20%CuCr2O4/BiOBr nanocomposite exhibits high degradation activity for both RhB (96.0% in 15 min) and TC-HCl (96.7% in 300 min) in presence of LED light with good recycling characteristics. Detailed structural and optical characterization using XRD, BET, FESEM, TEM, HRTEM, EDX, XPS, UV−Vis DRS, PL spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy have been carried out prior performing photocatalytic activity tests. The structural as well as optical data have revealed a significant improvement in visible light absorption of BiOBr in presence of CuCr2O4. Based on energy band modification at the heterojunction of nanocomposite materials and their radical trapping ability, a plausible mechanistic path of photocatalytic degradation is presented.