Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) Are Generated as Organic Contaminants Are Broken Down: SnO2-Doped Graphene Oxide Nanocomposites Are Investigated Under Visible Light Illumination for their Photocatalytic Activity
K. Kaviyarasu, Mohamed S. Elshikh, Saeedah Musaed Almutairi, R. Uthrakumar, Azhaguchamy Muthukumaran
Abstract
Abstract Our aim is to establish a more efficient and reliable method for the bio-fabrication of pure SnO 2 and SnO 2 -doped graphene oxide nanocomposites through a green chelating agent called Moringa Oleifera extract by sol-gel method. A sintered SnO 2 -doped GO nanocomposite exhibited increased crystallinity and size with increasing temperature, as determined by XRD studies. An FTIR investigation shows that the SnO 2 -doped GO nanocomposite exhibits two distinct bands at 733 cm −1 and 438 cm −1 due to terminal oxygen vibrations, while samples treated with G-O-Sn-O exhibit bands at 733 cm −1 due to antisymmetric stretching. By increasing the SnO 2 peak, SnO 2 nanoparticle sizes decrease, which results in a broadened GO, as well as a reduced IR intensity. By SEM and EDAX, the size and morphology of SnO 2 -doped GO nanocomposites were clearly observed. It was calculated that the optical bandgap of SnO 2 -doped GO nanostructures is 4.48 eV. It has been demonstrated that SnO 2 -doped GO nanocomposite can be used as an organic photocatalyst against organic pollutants methyl orange (MO) dye; despite its fast charge recombination when illuminated with visible light, these findings have been reported in detail.