Graphene Oxide Supported Cubic ZnO for Enhanced Photodecomposition of Dyes

A new nanocomposites photocatalyst was fabricated including cubic zinc oxide (ZnO) and the graphene oxide (GO) by simple solvothermal method. The hexagonal ZnO nanoparticles with cubic shapes were acquired via calcination of zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) pyrolysis at 450 degrees C. The result of optical absorption property and photoelectrochemical performance showed that GO enhanced the photocatalytic performance of ZnO due to the enhanced visible light absorption, the fewer electron-hole pairs recombine, the efficient transfer of electron-hole pairs and effectively reduced the accumulation of ZnO. The ZnO-GO nanocomposites photocatalyst was demonstrated remarkable degradation performance that almost completely degraded Rhodamine B (RhB) in 40 min and Methyl orange (MO) in 100 min under sunlight. It also exhibits good recyclability after 5 cycles that keep high photocatalytic efficiencies of 94 %. This kind of catalyst with photocatalytic activity and stable performance is expected to be widely used in the photocatalytic degradation of dyes, heavy metal ions, antibiotics and other fields.