Synthesis of CuO/Co3O4 Coaxial Heterostructures for Efficient and Recycling Photodegradation

The highly efficient CuO/Co3O4 composite photocatalyst with different morphologies has been synthesized directly on Cu wire mesh by controlling the composition of cobalt-containing solid precursors via a simple hydrothermal method. The structure morphology and composition of the composite photocatalyst have been characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectra. The photocatalytic result shows that the CuO/Co3O4 coaxial heterostructure is easy to recycle and exhibit enhanced photodegradation activity for methylene blue compared to single CuO nanorod arrays under full spectrum solar light irradiation. The enhanced photocatalytic efficiency of the composite could be ascribed to the synergistic effect of CuO and Co3O4. This study provides a general and effective method in the fabrication of 1D composition NRs with sound heterojunctions that show enhancement of photocatalytic performance and facility of recycling.