Cu-S Coped TiO2 NanoPhotocatalyst for the Degradation of Environmental and Industrial Pollutants

Sulfur doped titanium dioxide anatase nano-photocatalyst with different copper loadings (5, 10, 15, and 20 w/w %) was synthesized by hydrothermal method. The fabricated nanocatalysts were found to have high surface area, high aspect ratio, good surface morphology and high metals dispersion. The synthesized nanocatalysts were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), Brunauer Emmett teller method (BET). The results revealed that photocatalyst possesses anatase phase having particle size in the range of 9 to 12nm. The band gap of the photocatalyst was determined using transformed diffuse reflectance spectroscopy according to the Kubelka-Munk theory, showed prominent band gap decrease with increase in the Cu loadings. The photocatalytic activity of S-TiO2 and copper loaded S-TiO2 nanocatalyst were determined for degradation of phenol into hydrocarbons (methane, ethene, and propene) and photo reduction of CO2 into ethanol. The activity results revealed that degradation of phenol and photoreduction of CO2 increased with increasing copper loadings, due to creation of electronically modified active sites and change in the electron accepting properties of TiO2 with Cu addition and creation of electron hole pair.