Enhancement of photocatalytic performance in sonochemical synthesized ZnO–rGO nanocomposites owing to effective interfacial interaction

Abstract

Nanocomposites composed of two or more components with desirable performance have attracted tremendous attention, mainly due to the synergic effect between the components. The effective combination of ZnO and reduced graphene oxide would lead to ameliorate the photocatalytic performance. To enhance applicability of semiconductor photocatalytic, the composites used should be good interfacial contact governed by suitable particle size distribution. Herein we aim to fabricate the different crystallize size of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) in ZnO–reduced graphene oxide (ZnO–rGO) nanocomposites by sonochemical synthesis and subsequent facile drying treatment method. The Zn precursor, Zn(Ac)2, with a plenty of functional groups, was used as a starting source for both reduction of graphene oxide and formation of ZnO on rGO sheets through chemical bonds without the addition of hazardous reducing agents. LiOH was chosen as an assistive reagent to enhance the complete reaction between Zn(Ac)2 and GO in the formation of ZnO–rGO nanocomposites. More remarkably, drying condition has the great influence on the crystallize size of ZnO NPs in as-prepared ZnO–rGO nanocomposites. It is found that ZnO–rGO nanocomposites dried at −50 °C (freeze drying) show the highest photocatalytic efficiency in the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) as compared to ZnO–rGO nanocomposites by other drying conditions under visible-light irradiation. Correlating the crystallize size obtained by different drying temperatures with the photocatalytic activity, it is probed that the smaller crystallize size in ZnO–rGO nanocomposites enhances the interfacial contact and a chemical bonding between rGO and ZnO NPs leading to the effective separation of electrons and holes. In addition, the O 2 ·− anion was determined to be the main active oxidant by free radicals trapping experiment and a photodegradation mechanism of ZnO–rGO nanocomposites over rhodamine B (RhB) was proposed based on our observations.