TY - JOUR
T1 - Congo red dye degradation by graphene nanoplatelets/doped bismuth ferrite nanoparticle hybrid catalysts under dark and light conditions
AU - Fatima, Sabeen
AU - Ali, S. Irfan
AU - Iqbal, Muhammad Z.
AU - Rizwan, Syed
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was funded by Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan under the project no. 6040/Federal/NRPU/R&D/HEC/2016, HEC/USAID under the project no. HEC/R&D/PAKUS/2017/783, Emirates Center for Energy and Environment Research through grant # 31R166. The authors are thankful to the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan for providing research funding under the project no. 6040/Federal/NRPU/R&D/HEC/2016 and HEC/USAID and financial support under the project no. HEC/R&D/PAKUS/2017/783. The author is grateful to the School of Natural Sciences (SNS) at the National University of Science & Technology (NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan, for partial financial support. Partial financial support for this project was provided from Emirates Center for Energy and Environment Research through grant # 31R166.
Funding Information:
Acknowledgments: The authors are thankful to the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan for providing research funding under the project no. 6040/Federal/NRPU/R&D/HEC/2016 and HEC/USAID and financial support under the project no. HEC/R&D/PAKUS/2017/783. The author is grateful to the School of Natural Sciences (SNS) at the National University of Science & Technology (NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan, for partial financial support. Partial financial support for this project was provided from Emirates Center for Energy and Environment Research through grant # 31R166.
Funding Information:
Funding: This research was funded by Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan under the project no. 6040/Federal/NRPU/R&D/HEC/2016, HEC/USAID under the project no. HEC/R&D/PAKUS/2017/783, Emirates Center for Energy and Environment Research through grant # 31R166.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2020/4
Y1 - 2020/4
N2 - The continuously growing need for clean water has increased research looking for new and efficient ways to treat wastewater. Due to its magnetic properties, Bismuth ferrite, a photo-catalyst, has introduced a novel field of photo-catalysis where the photo-catalytic material could easily be separated from the aqueous solution after wastewater treatment. Herein, a new type of photo-catalysts, composed of Gadolinium (Gd) and Tin (Sn), co-doped Bismuth Ferrite deposited over graphene nanoplatelet surface have been synthesized using a two-step method. In first step, Gd (fixed concentration 10%) and Sn (5%, 15%, 20% and 25%) were doped inside bismuth ferrite (BFO) host using sol-gel method (namely the BGFSO nanoparticles, abbreviated for Gd and Sn doped BFO). In the second step, BGFSO nanoparticles were introduced onto GNPs using co-precipitation method (namely the BGFSO/GNP nanohybrids). The x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed the chemical bonding between co-doped BFO and GNP sheets via oxy and hydroxyl groups. The photocatalytic activities of the nanohybrids under both, visible light and dark conditions have been increased, and the maximum degradation activity (74%) of organic dye Congo-red (CR) is obtained for 25% Sn-doped BGFSO/GNP nanohybrid. The photocatalytic activity may be attributed to enhanced adsorption capability, electron storage properties of graphene and the presence of oxygen-rich species inside nanohybrids. Based on the current overgrowing population and need for clean water, these materials present versatile potential as catalysts for wastewater treatment.
AB - The continuously growing need for clean water has increased research looking for new and efficient ways to treat wastewater. Due to its magnetic properties, Bismuth ferrite, a photo-catalyst, has introduced a novel field of photo-catalysis where the photo-catalytic material could easily be separated from the aqueous solution after wastewater treatment. Herein, a new type of photo-catalysts, composed of Gadolinium (Gd) and Tin (Sn), co-doped Bismuth Ferrite deposited over graphene nanoplatelet surface have been synthesized using a two-step method. In first step, Gd (fixed concentration 10%) and Sn (5%, 15%, 20% and 25%) were doped inside bismuth ferrite (BFO) host using sol-gel method (namely the BGFSO nanoparticles, abbreviated for Gd and Sn doped BFO). In the second step, BGFSO nanoparticles were introduced onto GNPs using co-precipitation method (namely the BGFSO/GNP nanohybrids). The x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed the chemical bonding between co-doped BFO and GNP sheets via oxy and hydroxyl groups. The photocatalytic activities of the nanohybrids under both, visible light and dark conditions have been increased, and the maximum degradation activity (74%) of organic dye Congo-red (CR) is obtained for 25% Sn-doped BGFSO/GNP nanohybrid. The photocatalytic activity may be attributed to enhanced adsorption capability, electron storage properties of graphene and the presence of oxygen-rich species inside nanohybrids. Based on the current overgrowing population and need for clean water, these materials present versatile potential as catalysts for wastewater treatment.
KW - Dark conditions
KW - Graphene platelets
KW - Nanohybrids
KW - Photocatalytic activity
KW - Sn and Gd co-doped BFO
KW - Visible light
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U2 - 10.3390/catal10040367
DO - 10.3390/catal10040367
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85083067365
SN - 2073-4344
VL - 10
JO - Catalysts
JF - Catalysts
IS - 4
M1 - 367
ER -