Sustainable Synthesis of Zinc Oxide-Doped Graphene by Thermal Decomposition: A Game Changer in Indigo Carmine Removal from Water

Abstract

In the present work, we are reporting the synthesis of graphene and zinc oxide-doped graphene nanocomposite by the simple and cost-effective thermal decomposition method. The synthesized graphene and zinc oxide doped graphene were characterized by X-Ray Diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy and Fourier Transformed Infrared spectroscopy. Raman analysis shows the formation of graphene. The catalytic properties of the synthesized graphene and zinc oxide dope graphene were monitored by photocatalyst degradation of solutions containing indigo carmine under UV-light irradiation. The Maximum degradation performance of the nanocomposite zinc oxide-doped graphene shows 99.63% in 20 min. From the experiment, it suggests that the holes and superoxide radicals are responsible for the degradation of indigo carmine dye. The catalyst was reused and run for 10 different times. The degradation capacity of the catalyst decreases as the number of runs increases. At the 10th run, it was able to degrade up to 94.23%.