Sunlight-driven photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutant in an aqueous medium by Gd-doped CuO nanocatalyst

The scope of the present study is to investigate the influence of CuO doped with copper oxide (CuO) and gadolinium (Gd³⁺) metal ions on the structural, optical, morphological, magnetic, and photocatalytic degradation activity. A series of Gd-doped CuO moieties (1, 3, 5, 10, and 15 mol %) were prepared in a facile hydrothermal manner. The properties of the synthesized Gd-doped CuO catalyst were investigated using various instrumentation methods. It was found that Gd³⁺ ions were effectively incorporated into the CuO matrix and the photocatalytic activity of the Gd-doped CuO photocatalyst was improved compared to pristine CuO. The developed photocatalytic activity of Gd-doped CuO is attributed to improving the absorption of sunlight. Also, to make the charge separation between photo-induced e⁻ and h⁺ effectively. Furthermore, the probable photocatalytic mechanism of the Gd-doped CuO nanostructure was proposed. The organic pollutants rhodamine B (RhB) and ciprofloxacin (CIP) were exposed to sunlight and also investigated. The photocatalytic degradation efficiency of the synthesized Gd-doped CuO catalyst was tested with the organic pollutants RhB and CIP. Among the synthesized catalysts GC 10 mol % showed the maximum photocatalytic degradation efficiency. It was observed that RhB has a maximum degradation of about 87% in 90 min and CIP has 80% in 90 min. The foremost dynamic parameters responsible for the photocatalytic degradation were determined by catching (trapping) phenomena; The abundance of the dye was 10 ppm and the amount of the synthesized catalyst was 50 mg L⁻¹. This work is expected to provide new inspiration for the rational design of high-efficiency catalyst systems for environmental remediation.