Synthesis of CuO-TiO2 nano-composite for formaldehyde degradation application

Synthesis of CuO-TiO2 Nano-composite with the purpose of overseeing its characterization and performance in formaldehyde degradation, as formaldehyde is often a source of Volatile Organic Compound indoor that could be detrimental to health, has been done. The method used for synthesizing CuO-TiO2 is Photo Assisted Deposition (PAD), in which CuO was deposited on TiO2 with the help of photon. Characterizations done to determine the difference between TiO2 and CuO-TiO2 were SEM-EDX, XRD, and UV-Vis DRS. The formaldehyde degradation performance was modelled based on the substance’s significant concentration in medical rooms. Both SEM-EDX and XRD results indicated the presence of CuO on TiO2, with SEM results revealed similarities in CuO-TiO2 morphology while EDX results revealed that CuO deposited corresponds to the amount of added CuO precursor. XRD results showed that there was a CuO peak XRD diffractogram at a certain loading, which indicates the presence of CuO on the TiO2 surface. UV-Vis DRS results suggested that CuO enhanced the visible light absorption property and decreased the band-gap energy of nano-composites up until 3 wt% loading. Formaldehyde degradation performance test results showed that 3% CuO-TiO2 was the optimum sample, with the formaldehyde degradation reached 50% in 30 minutes.