Abstract
Photocatalytic treatment is one of the techniques used for the treatment of dyes-contaminated wastewater. It is important to develop an effective visible-light-driven catalyst for the treatment of dyes-contaminated wastewater. This study reports the synthesis of ZnO-reduced graphene oxide catalyst for the degradation of methylene blue. Graphene oxide was prepared by Hammer and Offeman process, while ZnO-rGO (1:1) was prepared by the chemical reduction method. The prepared ZnO-rGO composite was characterized by XRD, TEM, SEM, UV-Vis, DRS, N2 adsorption-desorption, FTIR, and XPS analyses. The photocatalytic activity was evaluated by photodegradation of methylene blue solution under irradiation. It was found that ZnO-rGO is capable of removing the dye from water and achieved the highest dye degradation efficiency of ~99% within 60 min. Furthermore, the ZnO-rGO was recycled in degradation experiments without any loss in its catalytic performance. The reaction kinetics was described in terms of the Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism, one of the kinetics mechanisms of surface catalyzed reaction. 36.2 and 13.1 kJ/mol were calculated as the apparent and true activation energy for photodegradation of methylene blue respectively.
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Asif Nisar is a research student who has carried out the experimental work.
Muhammad Saeed is the main research supervisor who has supervised the experimental work and drafted the manuscript.
Majid Muneer has helped in the supervision of experimental work and drafting of manuscript.
Muhammad Usman has helped in the supervision of experimental work and drafting of manuscript.
Iltaf Khan has provided the characterization fascilities.
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Nisar, A., Saeed, M., Muneer, M. et al. Synthesis and characterization of ZnO decorated reduced graphene oxide (ZnO-rGO) and evaluation of its photocatalytic activity toward photodegradation of methylene blue. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 418–430 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13520-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13520-6