TY - JOUR A1 - Baynosa, M. L. A1 - Mady, A. H. A1 - Nguyen, V. Q. A1 - Kumar, D. R. A1 - Sayed, M. S. A1 - Tuma, Dirk A1 - Shim, J.-J. T1 - Eco-friendly synthesis of recyclable mesoporous zinc ferrite@reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite for efficient photocatalytic dye degradation under solar radiation JF - Journal of Colloid and Interface Science N2 - Zinc ferrite and graphene composites have attracted considerable attention in wastewater treatment. In this work, a magnetically separable mesoporous composite of ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles (NPs) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) was prepared through a simple and eco-friendly method with pure water as solvent and without the need for subsequent thermal treatment. Uniformly dispersed ZnFe2O4 NPs on the surface of rGO sheets exhibited good crystallinity and a large BET specific surface area. These factors contributed to good photocatalytic performance of the composite for the degradation of methylene blue (MB) under simulated solar-light radiation, increased adsorptivity, increased separation efficiency of the photo-excited charges on the surface of the catalyst, and broadened light-absorption range of the composite. Efficient interfacial interaction between the ZnFe2O4 NPs and rGO sheets resulted in synergistic effects. The magnetically separable ZnFe2O4@rGO nanocomposite proved an efficient and stable catalyst in three consecutive photodegradation cycles for MB dye in aqueous solution under solar radiation. In addition, the synthesis method proposed in this study could be scaled-up easily due to the simplicity of the process, the lack of a toxic reagent, and the use of low temperatures. KW - Zinc ferrite KW - Reduced graphene oxide KW - Nanocomposite KW - Wastewater PY - 2020 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2019.11.018 SN - 0021-9797 VL - 561 SP - 459 EP - 469 PB - Elsevier B. V. CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-50211 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Nguyen, V. Q. A1 - Baynosa, M. L. A1 - Nguyen, V. H. A1 - Tuma, Dirk A1 - Lee, Y. R. A1 - Shim, J.-J. T1 - Solvent-driven morphology-controlled synthesis of highly efficient long-life ZnO/graphene nanocomposite photocatalysts for the practical degradation of organic wastewater under solar light JF - Applied Surface Science N2 - Metal oxide/graphene photocatalysts have been attracting considerable attention in solving environmental pollution problems because of the limitations of the semiconductor-based photocatalysts. In this study, highly efficient and inexpensive zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles with three different morphologies, such as nanospheres, nanodisks, and nanorods, anchored on reduced graphene oxide (RGO) were synthesized in solvent mixtures with different ethanol to water ratios. Among the three morphologies, the nanospherical ZnO/RGO (sZG) Composite exhibited the highest methylene blue (MB) and rhodamine B removal efficiencies at 99% and 98%, respectively, after only 60 min under low-power (40 W) ultraviolet irradiation at a low catalyst loading of 0.1 g L−1. This nanocomposite also showed excellent photocatalytic stability under UV irradiation, retaining 96% Efficiency even after 15 cycles of MB degradation. Moreover, the sZG composite exhibited a high MB degradation Efficiency of approximately 99% after 100 min at a low catalyst loading of 0.2 g L−1 under solar light illumination. The excellent photocatalytic performance and high stability of this low-cost nanospherical ZnO/RGO Composite exemplarily highlights the potential of sustainable next-generation photocatalysis for treating wastewater containing organic pollutants. KW - Nanocomposite KW - Photocatalyst KW - Dye degradation PY - 2019 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2019.03.262 SN - 0169-4332 SN - 1873-5584 VL - 486 SP - 37 EP - 51 PB - Elsevier B. V. CY - Amsterdam AN - OPUS4-48081 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -