Surfactant/organic solvent free single-step engineering of hybrid graphene-Pt/TiO2 nanostructure: Efficient photocatalytic system for the treatment of wastewater coming from textile industries

Abstract

In this study, hybrid graphene-Pt/TiO2 nanostructure were synthesized by single-step, inexpensive and surfactant/organic solvent free route; hydrothermal technique. The physicochemical properties of hybrid graphene-Pt/TiO2 nanostructure were carefully analyzed by multiple techniques, including X-ray diffractometer (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The synthesized hybrid nanostructures were utilized as photocatalyst for the degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye under natural environment at average ambient temperature and mean daily global solar radiation, of about 22–25 °C and 374.9 mWh/cm2, respectively. The activity performance indicated considerable degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye and was in the following order Gr (13%), TiO2 (60%) and hybrid graphene-Pt/TiO2 nanostructure (90%) over 21 min under the natural light illumination. The physiochemical characterization suggests that, the tightly attached metalized TiO2 nanoparticles (Pt-TiO2) on the high surface area graphene sheets improved utilization of visible light and increased separation and transfer of photo-excited electron (ē) hole (h+) pairs. Notably, the hybrid graphene-Pt/TiO2 nanostructure exhibited an excellent cyclic stability for methylene blue (MB) dye removal. Finally, the kinetic behavior indicated that the photocatalytic degradation reaction of the dye obeyed the pseudo-first order (Langmuir-Hinshelwood) kinetics model.

Graphene-based Materials and their Nanocomposites with Metal Oxides: Biosynthesis, Electrochemical, Photocatalytic and Antimicrobial Applications

“…The harmful influence of wastewater treatment affects the whole ecosystem causing damage to the human health, hygiene and all other creatures necessitating the search of green, energy-saving and cost effective water purification methods. Textile wastewater streams are contaminated with aromatic compounds and organic dyes presenting hazard to the environment and therefore are required to be treated before being reused or discharged [134]. To overcome the challenges in wastewater treatment technology, several materials have been explored for application as photocatalyst for degradation of pollutants.…”

Visible light active dye-sensitizing titanium dioxide/graphene composites with excellent photocatalytic activity

“…Ghouri et al synthesized a series of nanostructured composites of graphene-Pt/TiO 2 and utilized them for the photocatalytic degradation of a methylene blue solution under natural light. 10 These findings indicated that 90% of methyl blue (MB) was eliminated in just 21 minutes. Vahidzadeh et al developed a nanocomposite of nitrogen-doped titanium dioxide-reduced graphene oxide (N-TiO 2 -RGO).…”

Synthesis and degradation kinetics of TiO2/GO composites with highly efficient activity for adsorption and photocatalytic degradation of MB

“…Therefore, it’s urgently needed to develop a new type of photocatalyst with high pollutant removal capacity. Various strategies have been employed to solve these problems, such as doping with metal or nonmetal elements 5,6 , coupling with semiconductors 7,8 or co-catalysts 9 , and recombination with carbon-based nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes 10 , graphite oxide (GO) 11,12 , and graphene 13,14 .…”