Effect of copper salt on the synthesis of copper-doped gallium metal liquid based photocatalyst (Cu/Ga2O3), and its application in acetaminophen photodegradation

This work investigates the impact of two copper salts on the synthesis, crystal structure, morphology, and optical properties of copper-doped Gallium Liquid Metal (GLM)-based photocatalysts. Ga2O3 and Ga2O3‑copper ion doped were synthesized from nitrate and sulfate salts using GLM as the precursor by ultrasonic transducer. Characterization was done by TGA, XRD, XPS, SEM/EDS, ATR-FTIR, UV–Vis–NIR diffused reflectance and Zeta potential. We explore their application in photodegrading and mineralizing acetaminophen under different experimental conditions. Results show that salt significantly affects the physical-chemical and photocatalytic properties. Doping gallium oxides with copper leads to high levels of degradation (up to 80%) and mineralization.