UV-Vis activated CuO/CuS/WO3@PANI heterostructure for photocatalytic removal of pharmaceutical active compounds

The sol-gel and spray deposition were employed to develop a complex heterostructure based on CuO/CuS/ WO3@PANI able to use both UV and Vis light in order to generate charge carriers required in the photocatalytic applications. The sol-gel was used to develop the CuO/CuS/WO3 heterostructure in a three-step method where the components act as nucleation sites. The samples crystallinity and morphology were characterized indicating that all components exhibit crystalline structure and the morphology change with the addition of each component. Adding PANI during the film development have doubled the sample specific surface (51.8 m2/g for CuO/CuS/WO3 vs 94.3 m2/g for CuO/CuS/WO3@PANI) and have increased the layer density (3.43 g/cm3 vs. 4.26 g/cm3). Photocatalytic activity was evaluated for pharmaceutical active compounds removal in the presence of both UV and Vis light. The results indicate that CuO/CuS/WO3@PANI exhibit highest mineralization efficiencies of 75.5% toward penicillin G and 78% toward amoxicillin (50 ppm initial concentration). The mechanism of charge generation indicates that the heterostructure components have a synergic action contributing to the redox potential required to form the (super)oxidative species.