Tuning the Optical Properties of CuO/TiO2 Nanocomposites by Carbon Ions Beam Irradiation

CuO/TiO₂ nanocomposites were synthesized using an economical drop-casting method and subsequently irradiated with high-energy C⁺ ions at fluence levels of 1 × 10¹⁴, 1 × 10¹⁵, 1 × 10¹⁶, and 1 × 10¹⁷ ions cm⁻². While ion irradiation of metal oxide materials is well established, the systematic investigation of C⁺ ion effects on the structural and optical properties of CuO/TiO₂ nanocomposites under these specific fluence conditions has been limited. This study therefore contributes new insight into how controlled C⁺ irradiation can tailor the behavior of this composite. These un-irradiated and irradiated nanocomposites were characterized using various techniques such as Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDX), Raman Spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Photoluminescence (PL) Spectroscopy and Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (DRS) to analyze structural, morphological and optical properties of these nanocomposites. The Raman and EDX analysis confirmed the formation of pure CuO/TiO 2 nanocomposites. The SEM results represent the spherical morphology of these nanocomposites in aggregated form. PL spectra’s depicted the pure and C + ions irradiated nanocomposites were the same before and after C + irradiation in the Photoluminescence emission. DRS results indicated that band gap energy was decreased as the fluence rate of C + ions increased up to 1 × 10 17 ions cm -2 .