Enhanced photocatalytic activity of graphene oxide incorporated ZnO nanorods doped with post-transition metals

Abstract

Photocatalytic activity of graphene oxide incorporated pure and selected post-transition metal doped zinc oxide nanorods were investigated for the degradation of methylene blue dye. Thin film seed layers were deposited on microscopic glass slides using an automated spray pyrolysis technique at a substrate temperature of 425 °C. Aluminium, gallium, and indium were the metals used for doping. Graphene oxide content in the precursor solution was fixed at 0.00375 g/L. Nanorods of the aforesaid transparent conducting oxide materials were grown by aqueous chemical growth technique, vertically over the respective as-deposited seed layers. Structural and optical properties of the nanorods were studied. Growth of the vertical nanorods was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. All the nanorod samples were utilized as catalysts for repeated cycles of photocatalysis and the graphene oxide incorporated indium doped zinc oxide nanorod was found to be an efficient and stable photocatalyst by degrading 96.1 % of methylene blue dye in 180 min under simulated solar irradiation.