Dopamine-Based Nanoflower (Dop/CuNf) as a Catalyst for Sonocatalytic Degradation of Methylene Blue.

This article deals with dopamine based nanoflower (Dop/CuNf) (Cu = copper) through a facile approach for sonocatalytic degradation of methylene blue. The formation of Dop/CuNf was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis, powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), fourier-transform infrared spectrum (FT-IR), and energy-dispersive analysis of X-rays (EDX). The sonocatalytic activity of Dop/CuNf was determined in the degradation of Methylene blue (MB) in aqueous environments by the UV-vis analysis method. The influence of several operational factors like irradiation time, catalyst dosage, H2O2 concentration and initial concentration of MB were evaluated using ultrasound (US) irradiation. The achieved results illustrated that apparent rate constant values (kapp) and the half-life (t1/2) of the sonocatalytic degradation of MB dye (40 mg/L) using Dop/CuNf (1.2 mg) and H2O2 (5 mM) within 20 min were 0.104 min–1 and 6.665 min–1, respectively. According to these data, sonocatalytic technique delivers significant results as cost-effective and environment sensitive method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]