Preparation and photocatalytic performance of CuO/GO heterojunction nanocomposite

Recently, solar photocatalytic technology has proved to be an effective way to solve the problems of environmental pollution and energy shortage due to its green environmental protection and fast degradation rate. In this paper, a simple microwave hydrothermal method is used to prepare a novel CuO/GO heterojunction composite photocatalyst, and its chemical composition, microstructure, physicochemical properties, photothermal conversion, and photocatalytic properties are studied. The results show that the addition of GO in the CuO/GO nanocomposite photocatalyst not only effectively reduces the agglomeration of CuO nanoparticles but also makes it exhibit better photocatalytic activity than pure nano-CuO. The degradation rate of MB increased by 39.48% at 120 min of light, and as high as 94.1% at 180 min, mainly due to the construction of heterojunction at the interface and the synergistic promotion effect of light and heat. The internal mechanism of light and heat synergistic catalysis is revealed. This paper not only proposes a low-cost and efficient CuO/GO light-heat composite photocatalyst but also provides new ideas for subsequent researchers to design and prepare nanocomposite photocatalysts.