Investigation of the synergic effect of silver on the photodegradation behavior of copper chromite nanostructures

Pure copper chromite nanoparticles were prepared through an efficient route using copper nitrate and chromium nitrate. For the first time, various amino acids were employed as capping agents in the presence of propylene glycol and ethylene glycol in order to prepare these nanostructures. A number of experiments were performed to examine the effect of stabilization agents, alkaline agents and connecting agents on the shape, grain size and photodegradation behavior of CuCr₂O₄. The results showed that the type of stabilization agent and reducing agent creates numerous changes in terms of the size and photocatalytic performance of copper chromite. The effects of several factors, including the type of pollutant, grain size of CuCr₂O₄ nanostructures, pH and dosage of dye, on the photocatalytic behavior of copper chromite nanostructure were evaluated. Solutions of methylene blue, methyl orange and rhodamine B were employed as model contaminants. The maximum photocatalytic activity of the CuCr₂O₄ nanostructure was achieved for the rhodamine B contaminant under UV irradiation. When the CuCr₂O₄/Ag nanostructure was used instead of CuCr₂O₄ nanoparticles, the photocatalytic activity during the degradation of rhodamine B increased from 76 to 91%.