Visible light driven photocatalytic degradation of aqueous acetamiprid over nitrogen and graphene oxide doped ZnO composites

The present investigation focused on the photocatalytic degradation of acetamiprid in aqueous solutions under visible light over bare ZnO as well as N- and N-GO-doped photocatalysts. The synthesised materials were characterised using SEM, TEM, XRD, nitrogen sorption, photoluminescence, UV-Vis, FTIR and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy techniques. The obtained results pointed out the high photocatalytic performances of the N-GO-ZnO allowing complete degradation of the acetamiprid after 5 hours of reaction at ambient temperature. Under otherwise the same operating conditions, 12, 38 and 68% conversion were reached in the absence of any photocatalyst, over the bare ZnO and N-doped ZnO materials, respectively.

Automated summary

The study investigated the photocatalytic degradation of acetamiprid in aqueous solutions under visible light by using bare ZnO as well as N- and N-GO-doped photocatalysts. Results showed that N-GO-ZnO exhibited the highest photocatalytic performance, achieving complete degradation of acetamiprid after 5 hours of reaction at ambient temperature. In comparison, no photocatalyst, bare ZnO, and N-doped ZnO materials reached conversion rates of 12%, 38%, and 68%, respectively, under the same conditions.