Auto-combustion fabrication, structural, morphological and photocatalytic activity of CuO/ZnO/MgO nanocomposites

Highlights: • CuO/ZnO/MgO nanocomposites were successfully fabricated by auto-combustion method using the separated white egg . • The obtained nanocomposites characterized utilizing various tools . • The structural, morphology, surface properties and band gap of the calcined nanocomposites were determined . • Photocatalytic activity of the fabricated nanocomposites was investigated using reactive red dye 195. CuO/ZnO/MgO nanocomposites with various amounts of copper oxide (CuO = 0, 0.5, 1 and 2 mol) were fabricated by utilizing the separated white egg and auto-combustion method. The as-fabricated composites were heat treatment at 300 °C and 500 °C for a half-hour, separately. The calcined nanocomposites were examined utilizing various techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), High-Resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and UV–Visible spectrophotometer. The surface characteristics of the calcined CuO/ZnO/MgO nanocomposite were estimated employing the Brunauer Emmett Teller method (BET). Photocatalytic activities of the previous nanocomposites were investigated through the decomposition process of reactive red 195 dye with and without H₂O₂ under UV irradiation. The outcomes revealed that the crystallite size and surface area (S_BET) of the calcined nanocomposites (S15, S25, S35 and S45 samples) ranged between 12- 42 nm and 9–20 m²/g, respectively. The particles of the fabricated nanocomposites have different sized and shapes which made the hexagonal and spherical structures. The maximum value of the percentage decomposition of reactive red 195 dye was detected to be 88% after 135 min without H₂O₂ over the obtained S15 sample. The degradation value of RR195 dye was determined to be 90% after 15 min in the presence of the fabricated S35 sample with H₂O₂.