Fabrication of synergistic CuBi2O4/CaTiO3 heterojunction towards methylene blue dye degradation under sunlight

Nowadays, heterojunctions serves as a sustainable solution for treatment of wastewater, with an advanced oxidation process that involves the use of photocatalysts such as perovskites, spinel oxides for degrading organic pollutants. Among various heterojunctions, a p-n heterojunction is believed to give efficient photocatalytic performance. In this study, a p-n type CuBi 2 O 4 /CaTiO 3 heterojunction is synthesized for MB (methylene blue) dye degradation through photocatalysis. As compared to individual components, the heterojunction showed better degradation efficiency because of effective interfacial charge separation. The efficiency of CuBi 2 O 4 /CaTiO 3 towards the MB dye degradation was studied at several parameters, i.e., heterojunction dosages, dye concentrations, and pH solutions. The optimum performance was obtained at 5 mg/L initial dye concentration, 40 mg heterojunction in basic conditions for 330 min. The heterojunction exhibited photocatalytic degradation up to 95.50% when irradiated under sunlight. This is because of p-n heterojunction formation that leads to improved separation and migration of photogenerated charge carriers with reduced recombination. This work describes an efficient method for synthesising heterojunctions along with waste water treatment.