CeO2-Cu2O composite nanofibers: Synthesis, characterization photocatalytic and electrochemical application

•Facile synthesis of 1D CeO2-Cu2O composite nanofibers via electrospinning.•Composite nanofibers are depicted as promising photocatalyst for degradation of MB.•CeO2-Cu2O composite nanofibers showed high specific capacitance compared to pristine.•Composite nanofibers can be applied as future electrode materials for supercapacitors.

The present study describes fabrication and electrochemical classification of one-dimensional CeO2-Cu2O nanofibers for photocatalysis and supercapacitor application. The utilized CeO2-Cu2O composite was prepared by sol-gel electrospinning method using Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), Ce(NO3)3⋅6H2O and Cu(CH3COO)2 as precursors. The physicochemical properties of the synthesized samples were characterized using special characterization approaches such as X-ray diffractometer (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). As compared to pristine CeO2, the UV-vis spectrum of CeO2-Cu2O composite exhibited the absorption peak which shifted to higher wavelength. The photocatalytic activity results indicated the substantial degradation of MB dye by ∼92% over the surface of CeO2-Cu2O nanocomposite catalyst under visible light illumination. The CeO2-Cu2O composite possessed higher photocatalytic activity and electrochemical capacitance than the pristine samples as supercapacitor electrode materials. The CeO2-Cu2O composite exhibits a specific capacitance of 329.64 F g−1 at 5 mV s−1, which is higher than that of the pristine CeO2 (192.5 F g−1) nanofibers. These results suggest the applicability of fabricated composite nanofibers as visible light active photocatalyst and as electrode material for supercapacitors.

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