Neodymium, nitrogen,
and sulfur tridoped titania (Nd,N,S-TiO2) was decorated
on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and multiwalled
carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) via a simple sol–gel method. The
prepared photocatalysts were characterized by FE-SEM-EDX, TEM, UV–vis,
BET, FTIR, Raman, and XRD. Aqueous solutions of eriochrome black T
(EBT) and eosin blue shade (EBS) were used to evaluate the photocatalytic
activity of the composites under simulated solar light irradiation.
Degradation of the dyes was performed in single and mixed dye solutions.
The reduced graphene based photocatalyst (rGO/Nd,N,S-TiO2) showed improved photocatalytic activity over the MWCNT/Nd,N,S-TiO2 composite in both single and mixed dye solutions. In the
single dye solutions, a maximum degradation of 99.3% and 94.6% was
achieved for EBS and EBT, respectively. Moreover, a maximum degradation
efficiency of 65.7% and 58.9% was attained by rGO/Nd,N,S-TiO2 for EBS and EBT, respectively, from mixed dye solutions. These experimental
results suggest the potential application of the composite photocatalysts
for dye pollution remediation. Furthermore, radical scavenging experiments
confirmed the superoxide and hydroxyl radicals as the active species
during dye degradation. Total organic carbon analyses revealed a fairly
high degree of complete mineralization of both dyes reducing the potential
formation of toxic degradation byproducts.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.