preparation of nanocomposite of tio2 nanoparticles and cus nanoflakes for visible-light photocatalytic decomposition of nitenpyram pesticide

In this study, a novel tio2-cus heterojunction nanocomposite was prepared from tio2 anatase nanoparticles and cus nanoflakes through hydrothermal method and used, for the first time, as a visible-light photocatalyst for decomposition of agricultural insecticide nitenpyram. crystallinity, shape, and size of particles, and optical properties of the prepared nanocomposite were investigated using fesem, xrd, mott-schottky, photoluminescence (pl), and uv-visible spectroscopy analyses. the results indicated that the tio2-cus heterojunction nanocomposite was successfully prepared and compared to the pure cus and tio2 semiconductors, it exhibited a better photocatalytic performance mainly due to the improvement in optical properties (increasing the ability of visible-light absorbance) and reduction of the photoinduced electron and hole recombination rate. according to the mott-schottky analysis and radical scavenger tests, superoxide radical was detected as the major oxidizing agent involved in photocatalytic degradation of nitenpyram, and a type ii charge transfer pathway was suggested to improve the photocatalytic activity.