Advanced ZnO-graphene oxide nanohybrid and its photocatalytic Applications

A nanohybrid of Zinc oxide (ZnO)-graphene oxide (GO) was synthesized by chemical route and utilized as an effective photocatalyst for the photodegradation of crystal violet (Cv) dye. The substantially mixed ZnO-GO nanohybrid was formed by the introduction of GO during the synthesis of ZnO. Prepared ZnO-GO nanohybrid showed the better optical properties and exhibited the good interaction between GO and ZnO. The photocatalytic activity of ZnO-GO nanohybrid was analyzed by performing the photodegradaton of Cv-dye under light illumination. Enormously high degradation of Cv-dye by similar to 95% within 80 min was observed over the surface of advanced ZnO-GO nanohybrid, which might attribute to the presence of GO sheets as a supporting material and high e(-)-h(+) pair separation under light illumination. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.