Photocatalytic activity of nano-CuO/TiO₂ composites prepared by a simple impregnated method

CuO/TiO₂ composites were prepared by a simple impregnated method with Cu(NO₃)₂·3H₂O and P25 as precursors. The characteristic of photocatalysts were analyzed by N₂-physisorption, XRD, TEM, UV-vis DRS spectra. In this paper, the effects of Cu content, the scattered catalyst amount, calcination temperature of the photocatalyst and methanol concentration for the photocatalytic activity of CuO/TiO₂ composites were studied. We also investigated the stability of the catalyst and proposed a mechanism of the photocatalytic process. The results suggested that the appropriate content of Cu component in CuO/TiO₂ is 2.0%~7.5% and hydrogen production rate can reach 1 022 μmol/(h·g) at 2.0% of Cu content, 10% of methanol concentration, 350℃ of calcination temperature and 1.0 g/L of scattered catalyst amount. It was also demonstrated that CuO/TiO₂ photocatalyst had a stable activity for H₂ evolution.