Green synthesis of reduced graphene oxide supported TiO2/Co3O4 nanocomposite for photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue and crystal violet

摘要

The hybrid rGO-TiO2/Co3O4 nanocomposite was successfully synthesized through co-precipitation method. The structural, morphological, compositional and optical properties of the as synthesized nanocomposite were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Field Emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV-visible spectrophotometer (UV-vis) and photoluminescence (PL). XRD, EDS and FTIR confirms the existence of rGO-TiO2/Co3O4 in the prepared nanocomposite. FESEM confirms that the TiO2/Co3O4 nanocomposite are adsorbed on the surface of the rGO. UV-Vis and PL spectra revealed that the absorbance and emission occurred at visible region, which greatly supports the photocatalytic dye degradation through the electron-hole separation. The percentage decolorization of methylene blue dye solution was higher with lesser time compared to crystal violet dye. This result concludes that the commercialization of rGO/TiO2/Co3O4 catalyst may useful for treating various dyes in industries.