Development of Ag0.04ZrO2/rGO heterojunction, as an efficient visible light photocatalyst for degradation of methyl orange

Rana Muhammad Arslan Iqbal; Tehmina Akhtar; Effat Sitara; Habib Nasir; Aliya Fazal; Uzaira Rafique; Sharif Ullah; Adeel Mehmood

doi:10.1038/s41598-022-16673-7

Development of Ag_0.04ZrO₂/rGO heterojunction, as an efficient visible light photocatalyst for degradation of methyl orange

Sci Rep. 2022 Jul 19;12(1):12308. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-16673-7.

Authors

Rana Muhammad Arslan Iqbal¹, Tehmina Akhtar¹, Effat Sitara¹, Habib Nasir², Aliya Fazal³, Uzaira Rafique⁴, Sharif Ullah¹, Adeel Mehmood⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, School of Natural Sciences, National University of Sciences and Technology, H-12, Islamabad, 44000, Pakistan.
² Department of Chemistry, School of Natural Sciences, National University of Sciences and Technology, H-12, Islamabad, 44000, Pakistan. habibnasir@sns.nust.edu.pk.
³ Department of Chemistry, Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
⁴ Department of Environmental Sciences, Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
⁵ Department of Chemical Engineering and Energy Systems Research, Ajou University, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do, 16499, Republic of Korea.

Abstract

Methyl orange (MO) is mutagenic, poisonous, and carcinogenic in nature, hence, effective methods are required for its degradation. We have synthesized pure ZrO₂, Ag-doped ZrO_2, and Ag-doped ZrO₂/rGO as hybrid photocatalysts by facile hydrothermal method. These photocatalysts were characterized by powder XRD, scanning electron microscopy, EDX, FTIR, photoluminescence, UV-Vis diffuse reflectance (DRS), and Raman spectroscopy. The photodegradation of MO (10 ppm) was studied with pure ZrO₂, Ag-doped ZrO_2, and Ag-doped ZrO₂/rGO (10 mg/100 mL catalyst dosage) photocatalysts at 100 min irradiation time under UV-Visible light. The pH effect and catalyst dosage on photodegradation of MO was investigated. Ag_0.04ZrO₂/rGO photocatalyst exhibited the maximum photocatalytic degradation of MO (87%) as compared to Ag_0.04ZrO₂ (60%) and pure ZrO₂ (26%). Reusability experiments ensured the excellent stability of photocatalyst after five consecutive experiments. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the facile hydrothermal synthesis of Ag_0.04ZrO₂/rGO photocatalyst for photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

Azo Compounds* / chemistry
Graphite*
Light

Substances

Azo Compounds
graphene oxide
methyl orange
Graphite