Effect of ethylenediamine addition and time variation of CuO synthesis on microstructure morphology and methylene blue degradation

Full text: In recent years, p-type metal oxide semiconductors (MOS) have received considerable attention because of their unique properties, among them copper based (Cu) oxides and their compounds have been prominent in applications such as catalysis. CuO photocatalysts were obtained via microwave assisted hydrothermal synthesis using copper nitrate, potassium hydroxide (KOH) and ethylenediamine (EDA) as surfactant. The amount of surfactant in the synthesis was varied, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3 ml of EDA were used, in addition to 0.1 ml of EDA also the reaction time was varied at 10, 30, 45 and 60 min, in order to study the difference in morphology. They were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy with field emission (SEM-FEG) and UV degradation of methylene blue. The XRD results showed the formation of the copper phase and the MEV-FEG presented a slit-like morphology for pure CuO. It is expected to obtain varied morphologies according to the variation of reaction time and amount of surfactant, as well as different results regarding UV degradation due to these changes in morphology. (author)