Synthesis of hierarchical ZnO-reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites with enhanced adsorption-photocatalytic performance

This study describes a green method for synthesis of hierarchical ZnO-reduced graphene oxide (ZnO-RGO) nanocomposites via a hydrothermal method as an efficient photocatalyst for the photodegradation of azure B dye. The samples were characterized by several methods such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive spectroscopy (ESD), UV-vis spectroscopy, PL, and FT-IR. The synergistic effect between surface adsorption characteristic and photocatalytic potential of the nanocomposites on the photodegradation of azure B was studied. Further, the impact of the reduced graphene oxide content on the surface adsorption and photocatalytic activity of nanocomposites was investigated. The results clearly indicated the photocatalytic activity of ZnO effectively improved by hybridizing with RGO sheets. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.