Abstract
Zinc chromite nanoparticles (NPs) and zinc chromite–reduced graphene oxide (ZnCr2O4-rGO) nanocomposite have been synthesized by the combined effects of reflux condensation and calcination processes. The structural properties were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), UV–visible studies, etc. Structural morphology was investigated by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) that indicate the formation of particles in the nanometer regime. The presence of the elements Zn, Cr, O and C has been confirmed by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) images which show the purity of the synthesized products. The photocatalytic activities of both as-prepared samples under visible light irradiation were investigated in presence of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and the results show that ZnCr2O4-rGO nanocomposite has a quite higher photo-activity response than virgin ZnCr2O4 NPs. The enhanced photo response indicates that, in ZnCr2O4, the photo-induced electrons favor to transfer to the rGO surface and the recombination of electron–hole pairs inhibited for which it results in the significantly increased photocatalytic activity for the ZnCr2O4-rGO photocatalyst and this phenomenon is also supported by the band gap value and photoluminescence results. Our outcomes demonstrate that ZnCr2O4-rGO nanocomposite is a more promising material to build up an efficient photocatalyst for waste water treatment.
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Acknowledgements
K. T. acknowledges Swami Vivekananda Merit-Cum-Means Scholarship (Non-NET Junior Research Fellowship), Higher Education Department, Govt. of West Bengal for the financial support and P. D. acknowledges Bagati Shib Chandra Banerjee Girls’ High School, Hooghly for permitting to continue her research work. We acknowledge University Science Instrumentation Center (USIC) for TEM and SEM facilities.
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Kartik Tantubay: writing—original draft; writing—review and editing; conceptualization; methodology; investigation.
Piu Das: validation, conceptualization, data curation, visualization, formal analysis, funding acquisition.
Moni Baskey Sen: Supervision, writing, and conceptualization.
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Tantubay, K., Das, P. & Baskey (Sen), M. Hydrogen peroxide–assisted photocatalytic dye degradation over reduced graphene oxide integrated ZnCr2O4 nanoparticles. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 17309–17318 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-17105-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-17105-1