An enhanced visible light active rutile titania-copper/polythiophene nanohybrid material for the degradation of rhodamine B dye

A novel copper doped TiO2 (TiO2-Cu)/polythiophene (PTh) nanohybrid material with discrete polymer concentrations is devised by a modified sol-gel technique at low temperature. The XRD outcome revealed that the polythiophene and copper contents do not affect the crystal structure of TiO2. SEM and TEM images of the TiO2-Cu and nanohybrid denoted the presence of a nanoparticle sized core-shell structure. UV-visible absorption spectra of nanohybrid catalyst with diverse polymer concentrations broadcasted a broad and strong absorption in the visible region. A strong interaction between the interface of PTh and TiO2-Cu was confirmed by FT-IR. The presence of Cu2+ ion and positively charged sulfur (polarons) throughout the polymer carbon content was manifested by XPS spectra. The photocatalytic activity of nanohybrid catalyst has been evaluated by degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light irradiation. The effect of solution pH, catalyst dosage and initial concentration of RhB on the photocatalytic activity of TiO2-Cu/PTh nanohybrid with different loadings is studied. It has been observed that the rate of degradation of RhB over TiO2-Cu/PTh nanohybrid is better than TiO2-Cu metal oxide under visible light irradiation. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.