Facile synthesis of rGO/ZnCo2O4 nanocomposite for enhanced photocatalytic dye degradation of crystal violet dye solution

Abstract

The rGO/ZnCo₂O₄ nanocomposite (NCs) was synthesized using a hydrothermal method. The crystallite size, morphology, and optical properties of rGO, ZnCo₂O₄, and the rGO/ZnCo₂O₄ nanocomposite were extensively characterized using TG/DTA, FT-IR, UV-DRS, XRD, SEM with EDAX, and TEM techniques. The synthesized rGO/ZnCo₂O₄ NCs were crystalline with a cubic spinel structure and an average crystallite size of 19 nm, as confirmed by XRD. The optical bandgaps of pure ZnCo₂O₄ and the rGO/ZnCo₂O₄ nanocomposite were estimated to be 2.3 eV and 1.8 eV, respectively. The crystal violet (CV) dye was efficiently removed from an aqueous solution by photocatalytic degradation under visible light and sunlight irradiation in the presence of pure ZnCo₂O₄ and the rGO/ZnCo₂O₄ nanocomposite. The degradation results revealed that nearly 99.9 % of dye degradation was achieved with the rGO/ZnCo₂O₄ nanocomposite compared to pure ZnCo₂O₄ nanoparticles in 60 minutes. Hence, the rGO/ZnCo₂O₄ nanocomposite can be considered a promising and efficient photocatalyst for the degradation of crystal violet dye. The key highlight of this work is the low-cost, disruptive engineering strategy for synthesizing nanocatalysts for multifaceted applications.