The effect of reduced graphene oxide on photo-catalytic degradation Rhodamine B

In this study, a nanocomposite of ZnV2O6 photo-catalyst hybridized with reduced graphene oxide (rGO) was prepared to degrade Rhodamine B. The ZnV2O6 nanostructures were successfully synthesized via co-precipitation route and the most significant process parameters were optimized during calcination. The structure and morphology were explored in detail using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses. Graphene oxide was synthesized from natural graphite powder using a modified Hummers method and reduced to graphene-like sheets by removing oxygen functionalities with the recovery of conjugated structure. The self-degradation of RhB is almost negligible, but when ZnV2O6 powders were inserted in the solution, the degradation of RhB increased to 44% after irradiation for 120 min. The ZnV2O6/rGO nanocomposites exhibit a much higher photocatalytic activity towards the photodegradation of dye, indicating that the presence of rGO can suppress charge recombination thanks to the fast interfacial electron transfer between ZnV2O6 particles and rGO sheets.