Removal of Methyl Green by CuO/COF Photocatalysts with Enhanced Adsorption and Photocatalytic Activity

Abstract In this paper, copper oxide/covalent organic framework (CuO/COF) composites were prepared and investigated the photocatalytic performances for the removal of dyes. The characterization results of FTIR, XRD, and XPS, all proved that the CuO/COF composite were successfully prepared. The mapping of CuO/COF showed that the Cu element was uniformly distributed in the COF. After CuO was composited with COF, the energy band gap E g decreased from 1.14 eV to 0.81 eV. The highest photocatalytic degradation rate of the CuO/COF composite was 94.00%. At the same time, the photocatalytic wavelength could be shifted from 254 nm to 356 nm. The enhancement of the photocatalytic activity of the CuO/COF composite was attributed to the increase in carrier transfer rate and the increase in the active sites. These results show that the CuO/COF photocatalyst has a strong potential for removing organic dyes under light of 254–356 nm, which also provides a certain reference value for the development of photocatalytic materials.