NiP/CuO composites: Electroless plating synthesis, antibiotic photodegradation and antibacterial properties

• Published in: Chemosphere (Oxford) Vol. 267; p. 129220
• Main Authors: Liu, Shu-yuan, Ru, Jiling, Liu, Fanzhe
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2021
• Subjects: Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; Antibacterial; Antibiotic degradation; Catalysis; Copper; Electroless plating; Ni–P/CuO; Photocatalysis; Photolysis; Ni–P/CuO; Antibacterial; Electroless plating; Photocatalysis; Antibiotic degradation
• ISSN: 0045-6535; 1879-1298
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.129220

This work reports a simple method to prepare nickel-phosphorus (Ni–P) alloy modified CuO (Ni–P/CuO) composite, which shows excellent performance in terms of photodegradation antibiotics, particularly regarding the antibacterial properties. The Ni–P/CuO composites were prepared via two steps. The first step was to produce CuO by the hydrothermal method and the second step was to grow Ni–P in-situ on the surface of CuO through electroless plating. After loading of Ni–P, the photocatalytic activity of CuO for the decomposition of antibiotics is significantly increased under visible light irradiation. The photocatalytic activity of Ni–P/CuO with 4 wt% Ni–P loading is 25 times higher than that of CuO. Compared with CuO, the antibacterial activity of Ni–P/CuO with 4 wt% Ni–P loading against Escherichia coli is strongly increased. Based on the photoluminescence and photocurrent measurements of CuO and Ni–P/CuO, Ni–P cocatalyst improves the separation and transfer of the photogenerated charge in CuO, and enhances the photocatalytic activity of antibacterial performance. This work reveals that using Ni–P as the cocatalyst can strengthen the photocatalytic performance of CuO, which has great application potential in water purification and antibacterial treatments. •The electroless plating method was used to prepare Ni–P/CuO composites.•The photocatalytic activity of CuO is enhanced by loading of Ni–P.•Ni–P/CuO shows remarkable sterilization of E. coli.•Ni–P/CuO heterojunctions significantly promote charge separation.