Issue 51, 2020, Issue in Progress

Concurrent and dual N-doping of graphene/ZnO nanocomposites for enhanced Cr(vi) photoreduction activity under visible-light irradiation

Abstract

Simultaneous and dual N-doping of two components in reduced graphene oxide/ZnO nanocomposites were successfully achieved by thermally annealing a GO/Zn(HCO3)2 precursor in an NH3 atmosphere. In this facile preparative procedure, NH3 was used not only as the reagent for in situ reduction of GO but also as the source for N-doping. Detailed characterizations showed that the nitrogen element was successfully and simultaneously incorporated into the crystal lattice of ZnO and graphene phases in the composites and the formation of oxygen vacancies was also achieved. The photocatalytic tests indicated that N-doping of graphene/ZnO (NG/NZO) nanocomposites exhibited the higher Cr(VI) photoreduction activity than graphene/ZnO, virgin N-doped ZnO (NZO) and the sample prepared via simple physically mixing. The mechanistic study demonstrated that the remarkable photocatalytic activity of NG/NZO photocatalysts was due to the synergistic effect of simultaneously N-doping two phases in the composites and the existence of oxygen vacancies, and mainly included the increased electrical conductivity of N-doped graphene (NG), the expansion of visible light harvesting capability of NZO and the effective separation of electron–hole pairs of the oxygen vacancies.

Graphical abstract: Concurrent and dual N-doping of graphene/ZnO nanocomposites for enhanced Cr(vi) photoreduction activity under visible-light irradiation

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
16 Jun 2020
Accepted
09 Aug 2020
First published
20 Aug 2020
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

RSC Adv., 2020,10, 30832-30839

Concurrent and dual N-doping of graphene/ZnO nanocomposites for enhanced Cr(VI) photoreduction activity under visible-light irradiation

W. Jia and X. Yuan, RSC Adv., 2020, 10, 30832 DOI: 10.1039/D0RA05284A

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