Photocatalytic Degredration of Methylene Blue and Crystal Violet by Sulfur/Reduced Graphene Oxide Composite

Abstract

Photocatalytic degredration of organic pollutants by using sulfur/reduced graphene oxide composite has interested much attention from researchers due to specific properties of graphene such as high thermal conductivity and temperature stability. In this paper, graphene oxide was prepared by Hummer's and Offman method, graphene oxide sheets were reduced to graphene via green chemistry method. Sulfur/reduced graphene oxide (S/RGO) composite has been synthesized using a facile and low cost method with thiosulfate and graphene oxide (GO) as precursors. The photocatalyst powders were characterized by Fourier transform spectroscopy (FT-IR), UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images. Photocatalytic activity of S/RGO composite was evaluated by photodegradation of methylene blue and crystal violet. Compared to pure sulfur and pure graphene, the as-prepared S/RGO composite showed much enhanced photocatalytic activity for the degradation of methylene blue and crystal violet under visible LED light irradiation. The results indicate that the incorporation of graphene with sulfur results in a more effective environmental photocatalytic applications.