NiO/CuO/TiO₂ Ternary Composites: Development, Physicochemical Characterization and Photocatalytic Degradation Study Over Reactive Orange 30 Solutions Under Solar Light Irradiation

The photocatalytic degradation and mineralization of Reactive Orange 30 on NiO/CuO/TiO₂ ternary composites have been studied using solar light irradiation. The NiO/CuO/TiO₂ ternary composites were prepared by producing ethanolic dispersions containing varied amounts of NiO and CuO/TiO₂ (3wt% to 15wt.%), followed by annealing at 300 °C. SEM, UV- Vis DRS, PL, XRD and FTIR analysis have been used to characterize the unary (parent photocatalysts), binary and ternary composites. Under solar light irradiation, NiO/CuO/TiO₂ ternary composites exhibited an excellent photocatalytic activity in degradation of reactive orange 30 in aqueous solution, whereas the NiO/TiO₂, CuO/TiO₂ and bare photocatalyst such as NiO, CuO, TiO₂ showed lower activities. It was deduced that the remarkable visible-light absorption phenomenon and band gap reduction of the NiO/CuO/TiO₂ ternary composites taking place. It paves way for the photogenerated electron transfer between CB of the NiO, CuO, TiO₂ semiconductors and also holes shifting between VB of above mentioned materials. The NiO/CuO/TiO₂ ternary composite shows good photostability and the photocatalyst retains 94% of its initial activity in the seventh cycle, respectively.