For a high-performance optical material, effective exciton creation and successive interfacial charge separation and quick transport towards the electrodes or exposure of catalytic active sites are highly preferred. The solar light reactive Reduced Graphene Oxide-Zinc Telluride (RGO-ZnTe) photoactive nanomaterial was synthesized by a single step one-pot solvothermal method. The as-synthesized nanomaterials are characterized both structurally and optically by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, ultraviolet-visible and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The performance of RGO-ZnTe photocatalysts was assessed under simulated solar light irradiation through the degradation of tetracycline (TC), a widely used broad-spectrum antibiotic and serious contaminant of waterbody with the release of human excretion. As-synthesized RGO-ZnTe photocatalyst demonstrated an outstanding performance toward degrading TC compared to its controlled counterparts and the efficiency is 6 times higher than RGO; and 2.6 times higher than ZnTe under identical experimental conditions. The photocatalytic degradation kinetics of TC was also explored and the reaction kinetics follow pseudo-first-order mechanism and holes play a dominating part towards the TC degradation. In RGO-ZnTe composite, RGO has multi-purpose activity towards achieving high-performance photocatalytic application. Firstly, the presence of RGO hinders the accumulation of ZnTe nanoparticles at the same time the wrinkled surface of RGO offers huge interfacial contact between ZnTe and RGO. Secondly, improvement of photon absorption in the visible regionafter loading RGO to ZnTe could facilitate exciton creation probability. In addition, highly crystalline ZnTe provides enhanced exciton diffusion length resulting efficient photocurrent and photocatalytic performances.

Visible light assisted photocatalytic activity of reduced graphene oxide-zinc telluride composite

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.