Efficient photocatalytic degradation of o-nitrophenol using ZrO2 -RGO nanocomposite : Hydrothermal approach

Phenolic compounds are present as a recalcitrant chemical in the effluents of industrial wastewater. They are highly carcinogenic and need proper treatment for their degradation to prevent human health. Even though conventional methods are available for degrading the phenolic compounds in the aqueous medium, they are not effective and are associated with high costs. Thus, in the current work, we deal with the degradation of O-Nitrophenol by using ZrO2 nanoparticles and ZrO2-RGO nanocomposite produced by a hydrothermal process with a lower cost under the visible light photolytic activity. The ZrO2-RGO nanocomposite outperformed the ZrO2 nanoparticles with higher degradation efficiencies. Though many researchers attempted to reduce the phenolic compound in the waste-water, according to the available literature, we have achieved the highest removal efficiencies, i.e., 98.4% in removing O-Nitrophenol. The morphology of the ZrO2-RGO nanocomposite was using BET, SEM-EDX, XRD, FT-IR, and UV-DRS analysis. XRD patterns revealed that the ZrO2 is highly crystalline, which might be attributed to the higher degradation. SEM pictures show that ZrO2 particles exhibit a limited size distribution and a consistent needle-like nanostructure. Through synthesis, FT-IR patterns showed the graphene oxide (GO) with reduced graphene oxide (RGO). The improved visible light degrading activity of ZrO2-RGO NC supported the UV-vis DRS. Thus, from the results, we conclude that ZrO2-RGO NC in the photodegradation of O-Nitrophenol, when illuminated with visible light, might be the best solution for the degradation of the phenolic compound.