Nanocomposites of Nb2O5 and ZnO with reduced graphene oxide for heterogeneous photocatalysis of dyes
Leonardo Zavilenski Fogaça, Jean César Marinozi Vicentini, Camila Fabiano de Freitas, Thais Lazzarotto Braga, Fernando Alves da Silva, Monique de Souza, Mauro Luciano Baesso, Wilker Caetano, Vagner Roberto Batistela, Mara Heloísa Neves Olsen Scaliante
Abstract
The removal of organic pollutants from water is a significant challenge in environmental remediation. In this study, the potential of ZnO and Nb2O5 semiconductors with the impregnation of three percentages of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) as efficient photocatalysts for the degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye aqueous solutions was investigated in a UV mini-reactor. The heterostructures were synthesized by hydrothermal method and characterized by analytical techniques, such as XRD, XPS, ATR-FTIR, Raman, TEM, N2 physisorption, photoacoustic, photoluminescence, and pHZPC. Both rGONb2O5 and rGOZnO catalysts demonstrated considerable photocatalytic activity, resulting in the degradation of MB within a relatively short time period.