CuO-coupled CeO2 nanocubes: simple preparation and efficient visible-light mineralization of atrazine with considerable reusability

The progression in heterojunction-based photocatalysts has grown more into consideration in environmental remediation. The extensive use of harmful herbicides like atrazine (AT) in agriculture and associated industries will affect humanity in the near future. Therefore, the presented study designates the preparation of cerium oxide (CeO2) nanocubes by the polymeric-aided sol-gel process followed by coupling with copper oxide (CuO) nanostructures at 5.0-20.0 wt% to obtain an effective and visible-light active p-n heterojunction photocatalyst. Physicochemical depiction of produced heterojunctions exposed the improvement of visible-light harvesting owing to bandgap energy reduction from 2.90 to 2.57 eV with the mesoporous surface structure and considerable surface area of 162 m(2 )g(-1) for the 15.0 wt% CuO/CeO2. The produced heterojunctions were applied to mineralize 231.8 & mu;M AT in water. The 2.0 g L-1 dose of optimal 15.0 wt% CuO/CeO2 disclosed the highest-performed one for the total mineralization of AT after 50 min with a magnificent photoreaction rate of 60.9 x 10(-3) min(-1) and bearable regeneration with 97% of its initial performance. This effective p-n heterojunction formation amongst the p-type CuO and the n-type CeO2 has promoted the charge separation toward inclusive mineralization of AT under visible-light