Plasmonic effect and charge separation-induced photocatalytic degradation of organic dyes utilizing Au/ZnFe2O4@rGO ternary composite.
- Resource Type
- Article
- Authors
- Pattappan, Dhanaprabhu; Kavya, K. V.; Varghese, Stella; Kumar, R. T. Rajendra; Haldorai, Yuvaraj
- Source
- Applied Physics A: Materials Science & Processing. Oct2020, Vol. 126 Issue 10, p1-9. 9p. 2 Diagrams, 4 Graphs.
- Subject
- *ORGANIC dyes
*SURFACE plasmon resonance
*VISIBLE spectra
*ZINC ferrites
*TRANSMISSION electron microscopy
*RESONANCE effect
- Language
- ISSN
- 0947-8396
Gold (Au) nanoparticles decorated zinc ferrite/reduced graphene oxide (ZnFe2O4@rGO) ternary composite was successfully synthesized and applied for the degradation of bromophenol blue dye and rhodamine B. The as-synthesized Au/ZnFe2O4@rGO ternary composite was confirmed by X-ray diffraction, UV–visible spectroscopy, and Transmission electron microscopy. The photocatalyst showed 96% degradation of bromophenol blue dye under sunlight at 180 min. Similarly, the composite photodegraded 94% of rhodamine B compared to the pure ZnFe2O4 (61%) and ZnFe2O4@rGO (76%) at 120 min. The photocatalytic activity of ternary composite was greatly increased compared to the pure ZnFe2O4 and ZnFe2O4@rGO due to the surface plasmon resonance effect of Au. The ZnFe2O4 is active under visible light to separate the photoexcited electron–hole pairs and accelerating the electron transfer. The catalyst stability did not decrease after four recycles. The as-prepared ternary composite catalyst could be applied to degrade the pollutant materials owing to its high efficiency in visible light and its excellent reusability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]