Synthesis and Characterization of Ag Doped ZrO2/ rGO for Photocatalytic Degradation of Methyl Orange

Abstract

all life on Earth, water is one of the most important natural resources. Any chemical, biological, or physical alteration in water quality that harms living organisms or renders water unfit for intended use. The textile industry is one of the largest users of water in the industrial sector. Dyeing and finishing stages in the textile sector are the principal producers of wastewater with complex properties. It interferes with photosynthesis in plants, lowers soil fertility, and hence slows plant growth. It also raises the risk of aquatic life being harmed. It causes a variety of dangerous disorders in humans, particularly carcinogenic ones. Chemical, physical, and biological procedures can all be used to remove dye. Ozone, Fenton reagent, and photocatalytic reactions are some of the chemical approaches used. Adsorption, ion exchange, and filtration/coagulation are examples of physical dye removal procedures, while aerobic degradation, anaerobic degradation, and biosorption are examples of biological dye removal methods. In this study, hybrid nanocomposite of AgxZrO2/rGO was successfully synthesized through facile hydrothermal method. The procedure advents with the synthesis of ZrO2, then the as synthesized catalyst was critically evaluated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), in order to determine its crystallinity. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), was utilized for morphological analysis while Energy-dispersive X-ray’s spectroscopy (EDX) confirmed its elemental composition. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), identified different functional entities, UV-vis Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-Vis-DRS) for band gap determination, and Photoluminescence (PL) for the determination of electrons-holes separation. The Ag0.04ZrO2/rGO (1:1) photocatalyst has a high visible light absorption compared to Ag0.04ZrO2 and ZrO2, permitting efficient photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange MO. The effect of solution pH and catalyst loading on the photodegradation of methyl orange (MO) was also studied. Ag0.04ZrO2/rGO showed the highest photocatalytic activity for methyl orange degradation due to its absorbance properties. Because of the hybrid nanocomposite's low photo corrosive nature, reusability tests revealed that it has excellent cyclic stability for five repeated cycles. . In contrast to Ag0.04ZrO2 and ZrO2, the Ag0.04ZrO2/rGO photocatalyst has excellent visible light absorption, allowing for effective methyl orange photocatalytic degradation. Ag0.04ZrO2/rGO produced the highest rate of methyl orange degradation (87%) due to the low rate of electron and hole pair recombination between Ag and ZrO2 heterojunction. The photo-assisted degradation of MO followed pseudo-first order kinetics, according to the kinetic simulation report. The Ag0.04ZrO2/high rGO's efficiency can be attributed to heterojunction formation, porous structure, and large active surface area.