Synergistic photocatalysis: harnessing WSe2-ZnO nanocomposites for efficient malachite green dye degradation

In this work, the zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods on the WSe2 nanosheets were synthesized by a two-step method. The synthesized nanomaterials were characterized by XRD and SEM to confirm the structural and morphological properties. The band gap of the materials was calculated using a Tauc' plot, and the band gap of the nanocomposite was found to be 2.59 eV. The nanocomposite falls under the visible light spectrum and overcomes the problem of wide bandgap of ZnO. The surface charge of the nanocomposite was analyzed by zeta potential measurement and found to be suitable for the adsorption of malachite green dye. The fabrication of nanocomposite improves the recombination rate, as confirmed by the time-resolved photoluminescence measurements. The photocatalytic degradation of malachite green dye was performed, and an efficiency of similar to 80% was achieved. The nanocomposite follows a pseudo-first-order model, which is confirmed by the high correlation coefficient value. The photocatalysis mechanism was proposed and confirmed through a scavenger test. The reusability test demonstrates that the nanocomposite is a potential candidate for dye degradation.

Automated summary

Zinc oxide nanorods on WSe2 nanosheets were synthesized using a two-step method. The synthesized nanomaterials were characterized to confirm their structural and morphological properties. The resulting nanocomposite has a band gap suitable for visible light, overcomes the wide bandgap issue of ZnO, and is capable of adsorbing dye molecules. The fabrication of the nanocomposite improves the recombination rate and achieves high efficiency in photocatalytic degradation.