Surface conjugation of titanium dioxide nanoparticles on nano-graphene oxide enhances photocatalytic degradation of azo dyes under sunlight.

Here, conjugate of nano-graphene oxide (GO) and titanium dioxide nanoparticle (nTiO ₂ ) was proposed for the photocatalytic degradation of two toxic azo dyes, Congo red (CR) and Methylene blue (MB), under sunlight irradiation. Furthermore, the optimized weight ratio between GO and nTiO ₂ of 1:5 demonstrated the highest degradation efficiency. The nanoconjugate induced 85% degradation of 40 ppm of CR in 60 min and a complete degradation within 70 min, while it degraded more than 90% of 20 ppm of MB in 80 min. The photocatalyst can be reused for five cycles of photocatalysis. Thus, the photocatalytic potential of GO/nTiO ₂ under visible light may be used as a very suitable and cost-effective photocatalyst industrially for the removal of toxic dyes from water.
(© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)