Preparation of New Sm-Doped CuO/ZnO/CuMn2O4 Tri-Composite for Photoremoval of Dissolved Organic Waste and Dielectric-Energy Storage

Abstract

Photocatalysis is considered as simple, green, and the best strategy for elimination of hazardous organic contaminants from wastewater. Herein, new broad spectrum photocatalysts based on pure and Sm-doped CuO/ZnO/CuMn2O4 ternary composites were simply prepared by co-precipitation approach. The X-ray diffraction results proved the formation of a composite structure. The transmission electron microscope (TEM) images displayed that most particles have a spherical shape with average mean sizes within 26–29 nm. The optical properties of both samples signified that the addition of Sm ions significantly improves the harvesting of the visible light spectrum of CuO/ZnO/CuMn2O4 ternary composites. The photocatalytic study confirmed that 97% of norfloxacin and 96% of methyl green pollutants were photo-degraded in the presence of the Sm-doped CuO/ZnO/CuMn2O4 catalyst after 50 and 40 min, respectively. The total organic carbon analysis revealed the high mineralization efficiency of the Sm-doped CuO/ZnO/CuMn2O4 catalyst to convert the norfloxacin and methyl green to carbon dioxide and water molecules. During three cycles, this catalyst presented a high removal efficiency for norfloxacin and methyl green contaminants. As a dielectric energy storage material, the Sm-doped CuO/ZnO/CuMn2O4 ternary composite has large dielectric constant values, mainly at low frequencies, with low dielectric loss compared to a pure CuO/ZnO/CuMn2O4 composite.