Visible light enhanced photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue by ternary nanocomposite, MoO₃/Fe₂O₃/rGO

Abstract

Herein we report the first in situ hydrothermal-assisted synthesis of a MoO 3 /Fe 2 O 3 /rGO ternary nanocomposite. The composite was prepared with various amounts of rGO loaded (1%, 3%, 5%, 7% and 10%), which were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectrophotometer, transmission electron microscopy, UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectrophotometer, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Raman, Photoluminescence and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis to study the structural, morphological and optical properties. FESEM micrographs reveal a regularly uniform belt-type structure in which MoO 3 with relatively smooth surfaces and Fe 2 O 3 were agglomerated, which led to complete dispersion with the rGO and formed ternary nanocomposites, MoO 3 /Fe 2 O 3 /rGO. The elemental composition of the ternary nanocomposite (Mo, Fe, O and C) was determined from EDX. XRD results show the average crystallite size to be 22.3 nm for the ternary nanocomposite and about the same for the pure phase formation. The synthesized samples were examined for degradation of a model dye, methylene blue (MB) under visible light illumination. The photocatalytic degradation efficiency of as-synthesized materials was determined by measuring the absorption spectra of MB, and the results showed that MoO 3 /Fe 2 O 3 /rGO-5% ternary nanocomposite exhibited higher MB photodegradation efficiency (99.47%) under visible light illumination than other four rGOloaded ternary nanocomposites, MoO 3 /Fe 2 O 3 binary composite, Fe 2 O 3 and MoO 3 .

Catalytic activity of graphene oxide hybridized ZnWO4 for dyes degradation and oxidation of functionalized benzyl alcohols

“…The preparation of graphene oxide (GO) was carried out by unique modified Hummer's method. 4 In a typical synthesis, 1g of graphite flakes was added into 2.5g of NaNO 3 and 100mL of concentrated H 2 SO 4 under stirring. Then, 3g of KMnO 4 was added gradually to this mixture at 10°C under stirring for 2h.…”

“…1 Metal tungstates such as. Bi 2 WO 6 , CdWO 4 , PbWO 4 , MnWO 4 and FeWO 4 are inorganic functional nanomaterials and widely used in scintillators materials, sensors, magnetic devices, photocatlaytic and magnetism field. 2 Among them, ZnWO 4 has a great potential in photocatalytic degradation of organic dye pollutants under UV light illumination.…”

“…Graphene is a sp2 hybridized carbon with zero band gap energy and has specific physicochemicoelectrical properties thus it shows excellent applications in photocatalysis and organic conversions. 4 There have been persistent efforts to load photocatalysts on the structure of graphene oxide (GO) to enhance the photo catalytic activity, but few studies have focused on the surface coating by GO on the photcatalyst for enhancing the photo catalytic efficiency and producing visible photocatalytic activity.…”

Synthesis of Bi0.5Li0.5TiO3 Nanoparticles by Sol-Gel Method for Photocatalytic Methylene Blue Degradation and Antibacterial Activity

“…Metal oxidebased photocatalysts have received considerable interest due to their technological effectiveness for eliminating environmental pollutions. Different materials such as Fe 2 O 3 , SnO 2 , WO 3 , ZnO, and TiO 2 have been used for the degradation of organic pollutants [12][13][14]. Among these metal oxides, TiO 2 is an effective photocatalyst for eliminating environmental contaminants because of its efficiency, affordability, and chemical stability [15].…”

Synthesis of MnO2/CdTiO3 nano‐structure for high performance photocatalysis and antimicrobial application

“…Hydrothermal technique is a simple method for preparation of MoO 3 /Fe 2 O 3 /rGO. This project was investigated by R. Balaji Anjaneyulu et al and the prepared catalyst was used for photo‐degradation of dye. Hao Chen et al synthesized TiO 2 –MnO 2 nanocomposites for decomposition of organic compound.…”