Facile synthesis and structural analysis of graphene oxide decorated with iron-cerium carbonate for visible-light driven rapid degradation of organic dyes

Abstract

Graphene-oxide-decorated with iron-cerium carbonate was synthesized in a hydrothermal reaction with varied carbonate content. After successful synthesis and characterization, visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity was tested using a 20-W lamp to initiate the rapid degradation of organic dyes via a photo Fenton process. The band gap and surface area were heavily dependent on the carbonate content, as reflected in the photocatalytic activity. The most probable structure of the cluster and its composite with graphene oxide was studied using first-principle theoretical calculations, and the band gaps were calculated. We established that cerium plays a key role in lowering the band gap of the cluster and determined that the catalyst produces a reactive oxygen species (ROS). ROS is an active component in the rapid degradation of dyes such as methylene blue, which has a quantitative and repetitive degradation.