Intriguing physicochemical properties and impact of co-dopants on N-doped graphene oxide based ZnS nanowires for photocatalytic application

Superparamagnetic N-doped graphene oxide (GO)- with ZnS nanowires was synthesized by a one-step hydrothermal method by doping dilute amounts of Ga, Cr, In, and Al ions for water treatment and biomedical applications. In these experiments, to enhance their properties, 2% of Ga3+, In3+, and or Al3+ were codoped along with 2% Cr ions in these ZnS nanowires. The nanocomposite with the composition, In0.02Cr0.02Zn0.96S, has better photocatalytic efficiency than other co-doped nanocomposites. The In (metalloids) and Cr (transition metal ion) are the best combinations to increase the magnetic properties which are beneficial for photocatalytic activity. Synthesized nanocomposite materials were characterized by several techniques such as X-ray diffraction, Field emission-scanning electron microscope (FESEM) with EDAX, vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), UV-Vis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and fluorescence spectroscopy. The correlation of intriguing magnetic properties with their photocatalytic properties is also discussed. XPS was employed for the detection of surface defects, phase transformation, and the nature of chemical components present in the nanocomposites. The Frankel and substitutional defects have a direct impact on photocatalytic activity that was determined from the fluorescence (FL) spectroscopy. FL and XPS reveal that the Cr and In codoped composite has a higher percentage of defects hence its photocatalytic efficiency reaches 94.21%.

Automated summary

Superparamagnetic N-doped graphene oxide (GO)- with ZnS nanowires were synthesized by a one-step hydrothermal method with codoped Ga3+, In3+, Al3+ and Cr ions for enhanced water treatment and biomedical applications. The In0.02Cr0.02Zn0.96S nanocomposite showed superior photocatalytic efficiency due to the best combination of In and Cr as dopants. Characterization techniques such as XRD, FESEM with EDAX, VSM, UV-Vis, XPS, and fluorescence spectroscopy were used to analyze the synthesized nanocomposite materials and investigate the correlation between magnetic and photocatalytic properties. XPS revealed a higher percentage of defects in the Cr and In codoped composite, resulting in a photocatalytic efficiency of 94.21%.