Synthesis and characterization of copper manganate-decorated zirconium dioxide nanoparticles and its photocatalytic application

An easy wet chemical method was applied to effectively produce CuMn2O4@ZrO2 nanocomposite materials for photocatalytic applications. The obtained results designated that the prepared materials have good crystallinity with different element compositions, which confirms the potential incorporation between both CuMn2O4 and ZrO2 materials in one nanocomposite construction. As part of the current investigation, we analyzed both structural, optical, and semiconducting properties of the prepared nanocomposite materials. The CuMn2O4 included in the network of ZrO2 can influence both the optical characteristics and the physicochemical properties as well according to the UV-Vis spectroscopy and TEM investigations. The CuMn2O4@ZrO2 nanocomposites were applied for the visible-light-driven reduction of Cr(VI). For the 1.5 wt% CuMn2O4@ZrO2 nanocomposites, a complete Cr(VI) reduction into Cr(III) was obtained, indicating a significant improvement in its photocatalytic activity via the quantity of the minor addition of CuMn2O4. Even after five cycles of applications, the CuMn2O4@ZrO2 nanocomposites indicate superior photocatalytic proficiency of 95% in reducing Cr(VI) to Cr(III) ions while maintaining its remarkable durability. Consequently, the developed CuMn2O4@ZrO2 photocatalyst might be used as an environmentally material for the reduction of heavy metals.