Visible-light-driven Photocatalytic Degradation of Safranin-T Dye Using Functionalized Graphene Oxide Nanosheet (FGS)/ZnO Nanocomposites

Overview

Journal RSC Adv

Publisher Royal Society of Chemistry

Specialty Chemistry

Date 2022 May 11

PMID 35540966

Authors

Bhavani P Nenavathu

Syam Kandula

Swati Verma

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Photocatalysts suffer from a lack of separation of photogenerated excitons due to the fast recombination of charge carriers, so a strong synergistic effect exhibited by photocatalysts is promising for effective photocatalysis. Herein, we have synthesized efficient visible light functionalized graphene oxide nanosheet (FGS)/ZnO nanocomposite photocatalysts a simple and economical approach with large scale production for practical applications. A series of nanocomposites (FGS/ZnO NCs) with different amounts by weight of graphene oxide (GO) have been synthesized a facile solution route followed by calcination under environmental conditions. The phase, purity and morphological studies of the synthesized FGS/ZnO NCs were carried out using powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The optical properties were studied using UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) and photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL). XRD results confirm the formation of a pure phase of ZnO in the FGS/ZnO NCs and TEM results show strongly adhered ZnO NPs on the surface of the FGS. DRS results confirm the extension of light absorption in the visible region while PL results confirm the effective separation of charge carriers in 0.09 wt% FGS/ZnO NCs. The synthesized photocatalyst efficiently degrades carcinogenic safranin-T dye under visible light illumination which is reported for the first time using FGS/ZnO nanocomposites. Photocatalytic studies confirm the higher photocatalytic activity of 0.09 wt% FGS/ZnO NCs (about 94.5%) towards the photodegradation of safranin-T dye in aqueous solution under visible light. The improved photocatalytic activity of 0.09 wt% FGS/ZnO NCs can be ascribed to the integrative synergistic effects of the enhanced adsorption capacity of safranin-T dye, effective separation of photogenerated excitons and effective interfacial hybridization of FGS and ZnO NCs. The generation of reactive oxygen species was confirmed using terephthalic acid as a probe molecule and a scavenger test was conducted in presence of histidine.

Citing Articles

Photoelectrocatalytic Detection and Degradation Studies of a Hazardous Textile Dye Safranin T.

Sadiq M, Shah A, Nisar J, Shah I Nanomaterials (Basel). 2023; 13(15).

PMID: 37570536 PMC: 10420668. DOI: 10.3390/nano13152218.

One-Pot Synthesis of SnO-rGO Nanocomposite for Enhanced Photocatalytic and Anticancer Activity.

Alaizeri Z, Alhadlaq H, Aldawood S, Akhtar M, Ahamed M Polymers (Basel). 2022; 14(10).

PMID: 35631918 PMC: 9144687. DOI: 10.3390/polym14102036.

Synthesis, Characterization, and Photocatalytic Activities of Graphene Oxide/metal Oxides Nanocomposites: A Review.

Jamjoum H, Umar K, Adnan R, Razali M, Nasir Mohamad Ibrahim M Front Chem. 2021; 9:752276.

PMID: 34621725 PMC: 8490810. DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2021.752276.

Advances and Challenges in Developing Efficient Graphene Oxide-Based ZnO Photocatalysts for Dye Photo-Oxidation.

Yaqoob A, Noor N, Serra A, Nasir Mohamad Ibrahim M Nanomaterials (Basel). 2020; 10(5).

PMID: 32408530 PMC: 7279554. DOI: 10.3390/nano10050932.

References

Dutta R, Nenavathu B, Gangishetty M, Reddy A . Studies on antibacterial activity of ZnO nanoparticles by ROS induced lipid peroxidation. Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces. 2012; 94:143-50. DOI: 10.1016/j.colsurfb.2012.01.046. View

Li B, Liu T, Wang Y, Wang Z . ZnO/graphene-oxide nanocomposite with remarkably enhanced visible-light-driven photocatalytic performance. J Colloid Interface Sci. 2012; 377(1):114-21. DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2012.03.060. View

Zhang Y, Zhang N, Tang Z, Xu Y . Improving the photocatalytic performance of graphene-TiO2 nanocomposites via a combined strategy of decreasing defects of graphene and increasing interfacial contact. Phys Chem Chem Phys. 2012; 14(25):9167-75. DOI: 10.1039/c2cp41318c. View

Chu W, Tsui S . Modeling of photodecoloration of azo dye in a cocktail photolysis system. Water Res. 2002; 36(13):3350-8. DOI: 10.1016/s0043-1354(02)00021-0. View

Xiong Z, Zhang L, Ma J, Zhao X . Photocatalytic degradation of dyes over graphene-gold nanocomposites under visible light irradiation. Chem Commun (Camb). 2010; 46(33):6099-101. DOI: 10.1039/c0cc01259a. View

Tian C, Zhang Q, Wu A, Jiang M, Liang Z, Jiang B . Cost-effective large-scale synthesis of ZnO photocatalyst with excellent performance for dye photodegradation. Chem Commun (Camb). 2012; 48(23):2858-60. DOI: 10.1039/c2cc16434e. View

Zhang Y, Zhang Y, Song L, Su Y, Guo Y, Wu L . Illustration of charge transfer in graphene-coated hexagonal ZnO photocatalysts using Kelvin probe force microscopy. RSC Adv. 2022; 8(2):885-894. PMC: 9076950. DOI: 10.1039/c7ra12037k. View

Xiang Q, Yu J . Graphene-Based Photocatalysts for Hydrogen Generation. J Phys Chem Lett. 2015; 4(5):753-9. DOI: 10.1021/jz302048d. View

Li X, Wang Q, Zhao Y, Wu W, Chen J, Meng H . Green synthesis and photo-catalytic performances for ZnO-reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites. J Colloid Interface Sci. 2013; 411:69-75. DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2013.08.050. View

10.

Yang Y, Ren L, Zhang C, Huang S, Liu T . Facile fabrication of functionalized graphene sheets (FGS)/ZnO nanocomposites with photocatalytic property. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2011; 3(7):2779-85. DOI: 10.1021/am200561k. View

11.

Liu B, Khare A, Aydil E . TiO2-B/anatase core-shell heterojunction nanowires for photocatalysis. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2011; 3(11):4444-50. DOI: 10.1021/am201123u. View

12.

Wang S, Qian H, Hu Y, Dai W, Zhong Y, Chen J . Facile one-pot synthesis of uniform TiO2-Ag hybrid hollow spheres with enhanced photocatalytic activity. Dalton Trans. 2012; 42(4):1122-8. DOI: 10.1039/c2dt32040a. View

13.

Gao E, Wang W, Shang M, Xu J . Synthesis and enhanced photocatalytic performance of graphene-Bi2WO6 composite. Phys Chem Chem Phys. 2010; 13(7):2887-93. DOI: 10.1039/c0cp01749c. View

14.

Xiang Q, Cheng B, Yu J . Graphene-Based Photocatalysts for Solar-Fuel Generation. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2015; 54(39):11350-66. DOI: 10.1002/anie.201411096. View

15.

Guerguerian G, Elhordoy F, Pereyra C, Marotti R, Martin F, Leinen D . ZnO nanorod/CdS nanocrystal core/shell-type heterostructures for solar cell applications. Nanotechnology. 2011; 22(50):505401. DOI: 10.1088/0957-4484/22/50/505401. View

16.

Salas E, Sun Z, Luttge A, Tour J . Reduction of graphene oxide via bacterial respiration. ACS Nano. 2010; 4(8):4852-6. DOI: 10.1021/nn101081t. View

17.

Zhang N, Zhang Y, Xu Y . Recent progress on graphene-based photocatalysts: current status and future perspectives. Nanoscale. 2012; 4(19):5792-813. DOI: 10.1039/c2nr31480k. View

18.

Golka K, Kopps S, Myslak Z . Carcinogenicity of azo colorants: influence of solubility and bioavailability. Toxicol Lett. 2004; 151(1):203-10. DOI: 10.1016/j.toxlet.2003.11.016. View

19.

Xiang Q, Yu J, Jaroniec M . Enhanced photocatalytic H₂-production activity of graphene-modified titania nanosheets. Nanoscale. 2011; 3(9):3670-8. DOI: 10.1039/c1nr10610d. View

20.

Yu H, Xiao P, Tian J, Wang F, Yu J . Phenylamine-Functionalized rGO/TiO Photocatalysts: Spatially Separated Adsorption Sites and Tunable Photocatalytic Selectivity. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2016; 8(43):29470-29477. DOI: 10.1021/acsami.6b09903. View