Synthesis of ZnO:Co/rGO nanocomposites for enhanced photocatalytic and antibacterial activities

Cobalt activated ZnO nanocomposites have been successfully grown on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanosheets via a cost-effective and simple soft chemical method to obtain ZnO:Co/rGO nanocomposites for the simultaneous enhancement of photocatalytic and antibacterial activities. The obtained samples were characterized for their structural, optical, surface morphological, photocatalytic and antibacterial properties. XRD profiles confirmed that the synthesized material is nanocrystalline ZnO with hexagonal wurtzite structure. The photocatalytic activities of the synthesized samples were evaluated by observing the degradation of methylene blue (MB), a representative organic dye, under visible light irradiation. The photodegradation of MB was found to follow pseudo-first order kinetics. Compared with bare ZnO, the Co +rGO activated ZnO nanocomposites exhibit significantly enhanced photocatalytic and antibacterial activities due to the synergetic effects of various mechanisms related to the Co and rGO incorporation. These mechanisms are elaborated in detail with the help of appropriate schematic diagram along with the support of XRD, photoluminescence, UV visible absorption, FTIR, FESEM, and TEM results. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.