Sol-gel Synthesis of Ternary ZnO-Cu₂O@AC Nanocomposite: Characterization and Photocatalytic Application for Environmental Remediation

The current study efficiently synthesizes a novel ternary ZnO-Cu2O@AC photocatalyst, which breaks down the hazardous rhodamine B dye in industrial effluents using a straightforward sol-gel approach. Crystallinity, morphology, elements, chemical composition and surface structure, band gap values, specific surface area and structural characteristics of the synthesized photocatalysts were examined using sophisticated analytical techniques. Relative to the ZnO-Cu₂O composite, the ternary ZnO-Cu₂O@AC photocatalyst significantly improved visible light absorbance and catalytic efficiency. The observed degradation efficiency of ZnO-Cu₂O@AC₈₀ is 99.87%, 1.7 times higher than that of binary ZnO-Cu₂O. The higher photodegradation ability can be attributed to greater solar light absorption, enhanced surface adsorption sites and increased photo-induced charge carriers (e⁻/h⁺) separation. The results demonstrate that the new ternary ZnO-Cu₂O@AC photocatalyst has shown an inexpensive way to remediate contaminated water and potentially be a model material for reducing wastewater pollution.