Microwave Assisted Synthesis and Characterization of Nanostructure Zinc Oxide-Graphene Oxide and Photo Degradation of Brilliant Blue

Abstract

Zinc Oxide-Graphene Oxide (ZnO-GO) nanocomposite have been fabricated by facile, low-temperature wet chemical process assisted with microwave irradiation and used for the photo degradation of Brilliant Blue under UV-Vis light radiation. The in-situ formed ZnO nano wires were randomly decorated on the surfaces and the edges of graphene oxide sheets, simultaneously reduced directly capable of forming the graphene sheets. The lattice constants and band gap energy of ZnO has been altered compared with pure nano-sized ZnO particles, which are confirmed by XRD. The graphene oxide sheets were anchored/tailored with ZnO particles and the photo degradation of Brilliant Blue were performed under UV-Vis light radiations. The results shows that graphene oxide hybridized with ZnO could produce an efficient photo-catalytic activity and the degree of photocatalytic activity enhancement strongly depends on bonding of ZnO nanowires and GO. The enhancements of photocurrent and photo catalytic activity attributed to the suppression of charge carrier's recombination resulting from the interaction between ZnO and GO. The optical, structural and morphology of the pure ZnO and ZnO-GO nanostructures were systematically studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transformation Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV-Vis spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, Photoluminescence spectroscopy, Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM).