Photodegradation of 2-nitrophenol catalyzed by CoO, CoS and CoO/CoS nanoparticles

The nanoparticles of CoO, CoS and CoO/CoS composite are synthesized using precipitation method. The X-ray diffraction, UV–Vis absorption spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and FT-IR spectroscopy are used to characterize the prepared nanoparticles. The EDX analysis shows the formation of CoO_0.67S_0.33 composite. The XRD pattern indicates the hexagonal structure for nanocomposite. The formation of Co–O and Co–S bonds is confirmed by FT-IR spectra. The band-gap energies of 2.97, 3.06 and 2.91 eV are obtained from UV–Vis spectra of CoO, CoS and CoO/CoS nanoparticles, respectively. The results of photodegradation of 2-nitrophenol show that the photoreactivity order of nanocatalysts is CoO/CoS > CoO > CoS. The pseudo first-order kinetic rate constants of 6.4 × 10^?3, 4.3 × 10^?3 and 12.2 × 10^?3 min^?1 are obtained for CoO, CoS and CoO/CoS nanoparticles, respectively, at photodegradation reaction conditions of pH 10, 30 mg/L of 2-NP and 1.3 g/L of the catalyst. The proposed nanocomposite shows an acceptable reusability and stability against photocorrosion in four-cycle photodegradation experiments.