Fabrication of α-Fe₂O₃Nanorod/RGO Composite: A Novel Hybrid Photocatalyst for Phenol Degradation

Abstract

We report herein the fabrication of a hematite nanorod-graphene composite (α-Fe2O3 nanorod/RGO) via a facile template-free hydrothermal route with an aim to improve the photocatalytic efficiency of the α-Fe2O3 nanorod. The structural and morphological characterizations of the as-prepared composites were carried out using X-ray diffraction, Raman spectra, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, N2 adsorption-desorption, etc. The α-Fe2O3 nanorods were well-decorated on the surface of the graphene sheets, which helps in electron transfer from α-Fe2O3 to graphene and hence can delay the recombination process, leading to the improvement in photocatalytic activity. The composite containing 5 wt % RGO and α-Fe2O3 nanorods shows a 4-fold enhancement in the photocatalytic activity. The performance of photocatalytic activity was discussed in light of surface area, interaction between nanorods and graphene nanosheets, synergism between α-Fe2O3 nanorods and RGO sheets, light-harvesting properties of the composites, photoluminescence spectra, photocurrent measurement, and hydroxyl radical formation.

Engineering the Cu2O–reduced graphene oxide interface to enhance photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants under visible light

“…As showed in Fig. 6, the I D /I G ratios were from 0.90 to 1.31 in GO and Cu 2 O-rGO composites, demonstrating the decrease in the average size of sp 2 domains and the reduction of GO to rGO [46]. On the basis of the discussion above, the stronger interaction between o-Cu 2 O {111} and rGO was in favor of more generated oxygen defects, which promoted the photo-catalytic performance.…”

Influence of different materials on the microstructure and optical band gap of α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles

“…Tang et al [6] have reported that α-Fe 2 O 3 /TiO 2 composite hollow spheres show magnetic characteristics at room temperature and good photocatalytic activity under visible-light irradiation compared to the single-component α-Fe 2 O 3 particles. Enhanced photocatalytic activity has been observed for α-Fe 2 O 3 /graphene oxide composite [7,8]. McDonald et al [9] composite has also been shown to exhibit excellent microwave absorbability, appropriate to use it as a high performance electromagnetic wave absorption material [11].…”

Comparative Photocatalytic Degradation of Rose Bengal Dye under Visible Light by TiO2, TiO2/PAni and TiO2/PAni/GO Nanocomposites

“…Many published reports focussed on the preparation and photocatalytic studies on nanocomposites consisting of polyaniline and TiO 2 (PAni/TiO 2 ) [14][15][16][17]. Among these, PAni has several advantageous features over others because of its good environmental stability, ease of synthesis, controllable doping/dedoping chemistry, and reversible electrical properties by controlled charge transfer processes [18,19].The incorporation of inorganic nanomaterials into PAni, thereby forming nanocomposite materials, appears to be an effective approach for preparing photocatalytic materials [20]. Some study reported that by adding graphene to PAni, there is an increase in the electric double-layer capacitance as well as charge transfer and charge transport [21] In this study, the nanocomposites of TiO 2 , TiO 2 /PAni and TiO 2 /PAni/GO were prepared by the co-deposition oxidation method.…”