Abstract
ZnO/reduced graphite oxide (rGO) composites were simultaneously prepared by the thermal reduction of graphite oxide (GO) and the decomposition of Zn(OH)2. The samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, photoluminescence, and DRS. Results indicate that Zn(OH)2 was heated and decomposed into ZnO at a low temperature (200 ℃), while GO was reduced to graphene. The synthesized ZnO particles were small and loaded on graphene layers. The ZnO/rGO photocatalysts exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity against methylene blue (MB) under simulated sunlight irradiation. The ZnO/50% rGO photocatalyst showed the best MB photodegradation rate of up to 99.7% within 3 min. Synchronous reaction provided an efficient, simple, and fast preparation method for ZnO/rGO composites, with an excellent solar photocatalytic degradation ability.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
All data of this study are openly available in this published article.
References
Cai R, Wu JG, Sun L, Liu YJ, Fang T, Zhu S, Li SY, Wang Y, Guo LF, Zhao CE, Wei A (2016) 3D graphene/ZnO composite with enhanced photocatalytic activity. Mater Des 90:839–844. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2015.11.020
Djellabi R, Yang Bo, Xiao Ke, Gong Y, Cao Di, Sharif HMA, Zhao Xu, Zhu C, Zhang J (2019a) Unravelling the mechanistic role of TiAOAC bonding bridge at titania/ lignocellulosic biomass interface for Cr(VI) photoreduction under visible light. J Colloid Interface Sci 553:409–417. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2019.06.052
Djellabi R, Yang Bo, Sharif HMA, Zhang J, Ali J, Zhao X (2019b) Sustainable and easy recoverable magnetic TiO2-lignocellulosic biomass@Fe3O4 for solar photocatalytic water remediation. J Clean Prod 233:841–847. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.06.125
Djellabi R, Zhao X, Bianchi CL, Su P, Ali J, Yang B (2020) Visible light responsive photoactive polymer supported on carbonaceous biomass for photocatalytic water remediation. J Clean Prod 269:122286. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.122286
Djellabia R, Yanga B, Wang Y, Cui X, Zhao X (2019) Carbonaceous biomass-titania composites with TieOeC bonding bridge for efficient photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI) under narrow visible light. Chem Eng J 366:172–180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2019.02.035
Fujishima A, Honda K (1972) Electrochemical photolysis of water at a semiconductor electrode. Nature 238:37–38. https://doi.org/10.1038/238037a0
Hao C, Yang YL, Shen YR, Feng F, Wang XH, Zhao YT, Ge CW (2016) Liquid phase-based ultrasonic-assisted synthesis of G-ZnO nanocomposites and its sunlight photocatalytic activity. Mater Des 89:864–871. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2015.10.041
Hassan MS, Amna T, Yang OB, Kim HC, Khil MS (2012) TiO2 nanofibers doped with rare earth elements and their photocatalytic activity. Ceram Int 38(7):5925–5930. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2012.04.043
Khan MS, Riaz N, Shaikh AJ, Shah JA, Hussain J, Muhammad Irshad M, Awan S, Syed A, Kallerhoff J, Arshad M, Bilal M (2021) Graphene quantum dot and iron co-doped TiO2 photocatalysts: synthesis, performance evaluation and phytotoxicity studies. Ecotox Environ Safe 226:112855. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2021.112855
Lee JM, Pyun YB, Yi J, Choung JW, Park WI (2009) ZnO nanorod-graphene hybrid architectures for multifunctional conductors. J Phys Chem C 113:19134–19138. https://doi.org/10.1021/jp9078713
Li X, Yu J, Wageh S, Ahmed AA, Jun X (2016) Graphene in photocatalysis: a review. Small 12:6640–6696. https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.201600382
Lu T, Pan LK, Li HB, Zhu G, Lv T, Liu XJ, Sun Z, Chen T, Chua DHC (2011) Microwave-assisted synthesis of graphene-ZnO nanocomposite for electrochemical supercapacitors. J Alloys Compd 509:5488–5492. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2011.02.136
Majumder S, Chatterjee S, Basnet P, Mukherjee J (2020) ZnO based nanomaterials for photocatalytic degradation of aqueous pharmaceutical waste solutions-a contemporary review. Environ Nanotech Moni Mana 14:100386. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enmm.2020.100386
Neelgund GM, Oki A (2020) ZnO conjugated graphene: an efficient sunlight driven photocatalyst for degradation of organic dyes. Mater Res Bull. 129:110911. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.materresbull.2020.110911
Pankaj R, Anita S, Pardeep S (2019) Photocatalytic water decontamination using graphene and ZnO coupled photocatalysts: a review. Mater Sci Energy Tech 2:509–525. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mset.2019.04.007
Rishikesh Y, Vijay K, Vipul S, Prabhakar S, Vinay KS (2019) Preparation of controlled lotus like structured ZnO decorated reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites to obtain enhanced photocatalytic properties. Ceram Int 45:24999–25009. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2019.04.142
Saber AN, Djellabi R, Fellah I, Abderrahim N, Bianchi CL (2021) Synergistic sorption/photo-Fenton removal of typical substituted and parent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from coking wastewater over CuO-montmorillonite. J Water Process Eng 44:102377. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwpe.2021.102377
Sanakousar FM, Vidyasagar CC, Jiménez-Pérez VM, Prakash K (2022) Recent progress on visible-light-driven metal and non-metal doped ZnO nanostructures for photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants. Mater Sci Semicon Proc 140:106390. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mssp.2021.106390
Sharma A, Hosseini-Bandegharaei A, Kumar N, Kumar S, Kumari K(2022) Insight into ZnO/carbon hybrid materials for photocatalytic reduction of CO2: an in-depth review. J CO2 Util 65:102205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcou.2022.102205
Suneel K, Ankita D, Pitchaimuthu S, Venkata K (2018) ZnO-graphene quantum dots heterojunctions for natural sunlight-driven photocatalytic environmental remediation. Appl Surf Sci 447:802–815. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2018.04.045
Wang H, Qiu XQ, Liu WF, Yang DJ (2017) Facile preparation of well-combined lignin-based carbon/ZnO hybrid composite with excellent photocatalytic activity. Appl Surf Sci 426:206–216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2017.07.112
Wang L, Li Z, Chen J, Huang YN, Zhang HJ, Qiu HD (2019) Enhanced photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange by porous graphene/ZnO nanocomposite. Environ Pollut 249:801–811. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2019.03.071
Funding
This work was supported by Key Scientific Research Project Plan of College and Universities in Henan Province (22A430041, 21A460036, 23A430026) and Special Funds for Basic Scientific Research Business Expenses of Zhongyuan University of Technology (K2022YY006).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
CW and BL: writing—original draft, conceptualization, methodology, validation, investigation. ZT: conceptualization, writing—review and editing, supervision, project administration, funding acquisition. NW: writing—review and editing.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethical approval
Not applicable.
Consent to participate
Not applicable.
Consent for publication
Not applicable.
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Responsible Editor: Sami Rtimi
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Wang, C., Liang, B., Tian, Z. et al. Simultaneous preparation of ZnO/rGO composites through Zn(OH)2 decomposition and graphite oxide reduction and their photocatalytic properties. Environ Sci Pollut Res 31, 4881–4896 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-31459-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-31459-8