Synthesis and Characterization of Graphene Oxide/Zinc Oxide (GO/ZnO) Nanocomposite and Its Utilization for Photocatalytic Degradation of Basic Fuchsin Dye

Abstract

In this study, graphene oxide/zinc oxide (GO/ZnO) nanocomposite was prepared by the decoration of thermally expanded and chemically oxidized graphite oxide nanosheets with zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles synthesized via two-step sol-gel deposition method and used as an effective photocatalyst for degradation of basic fuchsin (BF) dye. Structural properties of GO/ZnO nanocomposite were characterized with X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) methods, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area measurement. It was found that the GO/ZnO nanocomposite formed a two-dimensional (2D) structure having a composition of 0.54GO/0.46ZnO (w/w) and average ZnO partic le size of 25-30 nm. The band gap of ZnO nanoparticles onto GO nanosheets was found to be 3.25 eV while that of bulk ZnO nanoparticles was determined as 3.70 eV. Photocatalytic degradation works were performed into a UV-chamber by following the concentration of BF dye. Degradation reaction was modeled with the Langmuir-Hinshelwood pseudo first-order kinetic model. GO/ZnO nanocomposite increased the apparent reaction rate constant (k) about three times compared to bulk ZnO nanoparticles under UV light.[a] Dr. Z. Durmus

Enhanced drug efficiency of doped ZnO–GO (graphene oxide) nanocomposites, a new gateway in drug delivery systems (DDSs)

“…Representation of XRD patterns of GO, ZnO and GO/ZnO are indicated infigure 5. The Braggs diffraction peaks from ZnO and GO doped ZnO samples, the observed planes are identical (100), (002), (101), (102), (110), (103) and (112) at different diffraction angles 31.5°, 34.3°, 36.1°, 47.3°, 56.3°, 62.5°and 67.7°respectively[38]. The observed peaks indicates crystalline behavior with hexagonal structure (JCPDS 01-079-0208).…”

“…Information regarding surface morphology and elemental composition were examined by JSM-6460LV FE-SEM using Cu-grid coupled with EDX spectrometer. [38]. Morphological analysis of GO, ZnO and GO:ZnO, FE-SEM and HR-TEM was deployed to samples, the observed structure and size are illustrated in in figure 6.…”

Advances and Challenges in Developing Efficient Graphene Oxide-Based ZnO Photocatalysts for Dye Photo-Oxidation

“…In recent decades, the sol-gel method has been used to create ZnO-GO nanocomposites by incorporating ZnO nanoparticles on the surface of GO sheets (Figure 3b) [50][51][52] or the formation of ZnO-rGO core@shell nanostructures ( Figure 3c) [53], among others. All of those systems afford a high surface area with enhanced adsorption capabilities and improved photocatalytic performance, which can facilitate the degradation of dyes.…”

Assessment of Antioxidant Activity of Pure Graphene Oxide (GO) and ZnO-Decorated Reduced Graphene Oxide (rGO) Using DPPH Radical and H2O2 Scavenging Assays

“…The synergistic effects of the surface plasmonic resonance of AuNPs or the hydrophilic nature of the Ag-graphene nanocomposite and the specific electronics effect of graphene holds great promise for adsorption and photocatalysis application [2,11]. Additionally, zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticle-decorated graphene nanosheets are considered as an advanced material for their electrochemical performance and photocatalytic degradation of organic dyes [12,13]. Under such conditions, ZnO can act as a photocatalyst while graphene acts as an electron-acceptor/transport material to facilitate the migration of photogenerated electrons and hinders electron-hole recombination [12].…”