An overview of the synthesis of CuO-ZnO nanocomposite for environmental and other applications

• Main Authors: Das Susmita, Srivastava Vimal Chandra
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: De Gruyter 2018-06-01
• Series: Nanotechnology Reviews
• Subjects: catalyst; cu-doped zno; nanocomposite; semiconductor; sensor
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1515/ntrev-2017-0144

In the field of environmental science, metal oxide nanocomposites have gained a great attention for both theoretical and experimental aspects of their upgradation because of their wide range of practical applications such as catalysts, sensors, hydrogen storages, and optoelectronics. Among all nanocomposites, Copper oxide-zinc oxide (CuO-ZnO) has attracted more research due to their excellent tunable catalytic, electrical, optical, and magnetic properties and environment-friendly nature. Coupling of one metal oxide semiconductor with another metal oxide semiconductor produces an enlarged surface area, which provide more reactive sites, promotes mass transfer, promotes electron transfer, and avoids photo-corrosion of nanocomposites, which enhances its efficiency. The CuO-ZnO nanocomposite has been prepared by various methods such as co-precipitation, sol-gel, wet impregnation, and thermal decomposition. Depending on the preparation method and conditions used, different types of CuO-ZnO nanocomposites like Cu-doped ZnO, Cu supported/impregnated on ZnO, and CuO-ZnO mixed oxides with different morphologies of CuO-ZnO nanocomposites have been obtained. This article reviews the synthesis techniques of the CuO-ZnO nanocomposite and its morphology. Various practical applications of the CuO-ZnO nanocomposites have also been discussed.