CuCo2O4 photocatalyst for bifunctional applications: Toxic dye degradation and antimicrobial activity

In this paper, an environmentally friendly and facile method for the synthesis of CuCo2O4 nanosheets using deep eutectic solvent was reported. The synthesized CuCo2O4 nanosheets were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), zeta potential research, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) and photoluminescence (PL) techniques. The CuCo2O4 nanosheets were successfully applied in degradation of organic dyes based on excellent photocatalytic activity. In the photocatalytic system, with 15 mg catalyst, 99.96% Methyl orange, 99.89% Congo red and 99.90% Amaranth (MO: 300 mg L−1, CR:300 mg L−1, AM: 80 mg L−1) in 200 mL solution were degraded in 120 min, respectively. Then, it was proved that removal of dyes was made up of original Langmuir adsorption and first order kinetics. Moreover, the nanomaterial could be reused for six cycles with slight decline of degradation efficiency, proving its high stability. In addition to good photocatalytic activity, the nanomaterial exhibited excellent antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, achieving a complete bactericidal effect at a concentration of 100 μg mL−1. In conclusion, the as-synthesized nanomaterial had high photocatalytic activity and good antibacterial activity, which was expected to be applied in practical wastewater treatment.