Affiliations 

  • 1 Nanotechnology Research Centre, Faculty of Science and Mathematics, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, 35900, Tanjung Malim, Perak, Malaysia
  • 2 Nanotechnology Research Centre, Faculty of Science and Mathematics, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, 35900, Tanjung Malim, Perak, Malaysia. absuriani@yahoo.com
  • 3 Advanced Membrane Technology Research Centre (AMTEC), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310, Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
  • 4 NANO-ElecTronic Centre (NET), Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), 40450, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 5 Microelectronic and Nanotechnology-Shamsuddin Research Centre (MiNT-SRC), Faculty of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Parit Raja, Malaysia
  • 6 CNRS International NTU Thales Research Alliance (CINTRA), Research Techno Plaza, 50 Nanyang Drive, Border X Block, Singapore, 637553, Singapore
  • 7 Department of Frontier Materials, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Gokiso-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya, 466-8555, Japan
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2021 Feb;28(6):6966-6979.
PMID: 33025441 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-020-10904-y

Abstract

In this work, sand/zinc oxide (ZnO)/titanium dioxide (TiO2)-based photocatalysts were hybridized with graphene oxide (GO) and GO_multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) hybrid solution. The novel hybrid was then used in photocatalysis to degrade dye contamination. The nanocomposite photocatalyst was initially fabricated by growing ZnO nanorods (NRs) via sol-gel immersion followed by synthesizing TiO2 NRs for different times (5 and 20 h) using a hydrothermal method on sand as a substrate. Prior to the hybridization, the initial GO was synthesized using electrochemical exfoliation and further mixed with 1 wt% MWCNTs to form GO_MWCNTs hybrid solution. The synthesized GO and GO_MWCNTs hybrid solution were then incorporated onto sand/ZnO/TiO2 nanocomposite-based photocatalysts through immersion. Various sand/ZnO/TiO2-based photocatalysts were then tested for methylene blue (MB) dye degradation within 3 days. On the basis of UV-Vis measurement, the highest MB degradation was achieved by using sand/ZnO NRs/TiO2 NRs (5 h)/GO_MWCNTs (92.60%). The high surface area and high electrical conductivity of GO_MWCNTs prolonged the lifetime of electron/hole separation and thus enhanced the photocatalytic performance.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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