Comparison of photocatalytic efficiency of supported CuO onto micro and nano particles of zeolite X in photodecolorization of Methylene blue and Methyl orange aqueous mixture

•More efficiency of supported CuO–zeolite X with respect to bulk CuO.•More reactivity of supported CuO onto zeolite nanoparticles.•Effect of molecular structure of MO and MB dyes on their decolorization extent.

The present study compares the photocatalytic decolorization ability of CuO as supported onto both micronized zeolite X (CuO/MX) and zeolite X nano-particles (CuO/NX) toward aqueous mixture of Methyl Orange (MO) and Methylene Blue (MB). Both photocatalysts were characterized by XRD, SEM, BET, FT-IR and DRS. The progress of the photodecolorization of the proposed mixture was monitored using UV–vis spectrophotometer. The decolorization of dyes was systematically studied by varying the experimental parameters in order to achieve maximum decolorization efficiency. Application of the Langmuir–Hinshelwood kinetics allowed calculating the photodecolorization rate constants. CuO/NX was more efficient than CuO/MX and also, MO was more degraded than MB. The reusability of the photocatalyts was also tested and the decolorization activities of 90% and 88% were respectively obtained for CuO/NX and CuO/MX after four recycles.

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