Photocatalytic Activity Of Sral2o4:Xcu Powders Under Solar Irradiation

Cooper doped SrAl2O4:xCu powders were synthesized by combustion method. The doping concentrations were x=0.1%, 0.3%, 0.5%, and 1.0 at.%. X-ray diffraction patterns indicate that all Cu doped/undoped powders has monoclinic phase. Also, TEM images show that the size of the nanoparticles decreases as the content of Cu increases. The photocatalytic degradation of Congo red (CR) was studied by monitoring intensity of its characteristic absorbance band centered at 494 nm. The best result was obtained with the 0.1% Cu doped sample, since it degraded 100% of CR after 120 minutes under sunlight excitation. Hence, our results suggest that SrAl2O4: xCu powders could be suitable candidates for photocatalytic degradation of dye pollutants under sunlight.