Reflux condensation synthesis and characterization of Co3O4 nanoparticles for photocatalytic applications

In this research work, we report a simple method called reflux condensation method for synthesizing Co3O4 nanoparticles using cheap chemicals such as, cobalt acetate (precursor salt), sodium monododecyl sulphate - SDS (surfactant) and N, N - Dimethylformamide - DMF (solvent). The prepared materials were heat treated at 200, 400, 600 and 800 oC for each 2 h to get phase pure product. The calcined nanoparticles were characterized by XRD, EDAX, FTIR Spectroscopy, Particle Size Analysis, SEM, UV-Vis Spectroscopy (UV) and Photo Luminescence (PL) Spectroscopy techniques. The XRD data confirmed the presence of crystallization of Co3O4 nanoparticles as face-centered cubic (Fd3m) structure. The appearance of Co-O stretching vibration mode and bridging vibration of O-Co-O bond in the samples found out by FTIR spectroscopy. The particlulate and microstructural studies revealed the occurrence of nanoparticles in the samples. The atomic percentages of Co and O were found to be 42% and 58% in the sample. This energy band gap for the sample is found to be 5.6 eV. Photocatalytic degradation characteristics of methyl orange and Rhodamine B using Co3O4 nanoparticles were studied and reported. Among the two dye samples studied, methyl orange was found to be degraded effectively (76%) with Co3O4 nanoparticles in presence of UV-light after two hours of irradiation.