Hydrothermal synthesis of ZTO/graphene nanocomposite with excellent photocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation

Monaam Ben Ali; Haci Hasan Yolcu; Habib Elhouichet; Brigitte Sieber; Ahmed Addad; Luc Boussekey; Myriam Moreau; Mokhtar Férid; Sabine Szunerits; Rabah Boukherroub

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2016.03.061

Hydrothermal synthesis of ZTO/graphene nanocomposite with excellent photocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2016 Jul 1:473:66-74. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2016.03.061. Epub 2016 Mar 30.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Laboratoire de Physico-Chimie des Matériaux Minéraux et leurs Applications, Centre National de Recherches en Sciences des Matériaux, B.P. 95, Hammam-Lif 2050, Tunisia; Département de Physique, Faculté des Sciences de Tunis, Université Tunis-El Manar, 2092, Tunisia.
² Kafkas University, Education Faculty, Department of Chemistry, 36100 Kars, Turkey; Institut d'Electronique, de Microélectronique et de Nanotechnologie (IEMN), UMR CNRS 8520, Université Lille 1, Avenue Poincaré - BP60069, 59652 Villeneuve d'Ascq, France.
³ Laboratoire de Physico-Chimie des Matériaux Minéraux et leurs Applications, Centre National de Recherches en Sciences des Matériaux, B.P. 95, Hammam-Lif 2050, Tunisia; Département de Physique, Faculté des Sciences de Tunis, Université Tunis-El Manar, 2092, Tunisia. Electronic address: Habib.ElHouichet@fst.rnu.tn.
⁴ UMET, UMR CNRS 8207, Université Lille 1, 59655 Villeneuve d'Ascq Cédex, France.
⁵ LASIR, UMR CNRS 8516, Université Lille 1, 59655 Villeneuve d'Ascq Cédex, France.
⁶ Laboratoire de Physico-Chimie des Matériaux Minéraux et leurs Applications, Centre National de Recherches en Sciences des Matériaux, B.P. 95, Hammam-Lif 2050, Tunisia.
⁷ Institut d'Electronique, de Microélectronique et de Nanotechnologie (IEMN), UMR CNRS 8520, Université Lille 1, Avenue Poincaré - BP60069, 59652 Villeneuve d'Ascq, France.
⁸ Institut d'Electronique, de Microélectronique et de Nanotechnologie (IEMN), UMR CNRS 8520, Université Lille 1, Avenue Poincaré - BP60069, 59652 Villeneuve d'Ascq, France. Electronic address: rabah.boukherroub@iemn.univ-lille1.fr.

PMID: 27054768
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2016.03.061

Abstract

A facile and efficient one-step hydrothermal approach for the synthesis of Zn2SnO4 nanoparticles/reduced graphene oxide (ZTO/rGO) nanocomposites using zinc acetate, tin chloride and graphene oxide (GO) as precursors, and sodium hydroxide as reducing agent has been developed. This approach allows simultaneous reduction of GO and growth of spinel ZTO nanoparticles (NPs) on the rGO sheets. The morphology and microstructure characterizations of ZTO/rGO nanocomposites revealed that this method leads to close interfacial contact of ZTO NPs and rGO and efficient dispersion of ZTO NPs on the surface of rGO sheets. The photocatalytic activity of the ZTO/rGO nanocomposite was investigated for the reduction of rhodamine B under visible light irradiation. Compared to pure ZTO NPs, ZTO/rGO nanocomposite exhibited superior photocatalytic activity with a full degradation of rhodamine B within 15min. The enhanced photocatalytic performance of ZTO/rGO was mainly attributed to excellent electron trapping and effective adsorption properties of rGO.

Keywords: Photocatalysis; Rhodamine B; Visible light; ZTO nanoparticles; ZTO/reduced graphene oxide.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't