Production of CuCoO2 nanoparticle/SnO2 nanofiber heterostructures for visible light photocatalytic applications

p-type CuCoO2/n-type SnO2 heterostructured photocatalysts were produced and used, for the first time, in photocatalysis applications for the removal of organic pollutants in wastewater. The heterostructures were ob-tained by decoration of hydrothermally derived CuCoO2 nanoparticles (NPs) on electrospun SnO2 nanofibers (NFs). Microstructural, morphological, optical, and electrochemical properties of SnO2 , CuCoO2, and the het-erostructures were characterized in detail. The photocatalytic activities of CuCoO2/SnO2 (0.25-1.25 wt% CuCoO2) were systematically examined and the highest activity was obtained for the SnO2 sample containing 0.35 wt% CuCoO2 and almost all the methylene blue (MB) dye (98.1 %) was degraded within 90 min. Compared to the SnO2 , 0.35 wt% CuCoO2-SnO2 exhibited 83 % increase in degradation rate of MB dye. This increase in photocatalytic activity was attributed to the narrow band gap CuCoO2 absorbing more light together with SnO2 , thus generating more electron (e -)-hole (h+) pairs and more successful charge separation thanks to the p-n junction they formed.