Novel Fe2TiO5/reduced graphene oxide heterojunction photocatalyst with improved adsorption capacity and visible light photoactivity: experimental and DFT approach

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international 2021-02, Vol.28 (7), p.8507-8519
• Main Authors: Guediri, Mohamed K., Chebli, Derradji, Bouguettoucha, Abdallah, Bourzami, Riadh, Amrane, Abdeltif
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adsorptivity; Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Chemical Sciences; Composite materials; Computer applications; Density functional theory; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Electron microscopes; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental science; Environmental Sciences; Graphene; Heterojunctions; Irradiation; Light irradiation; Light scattering; Methylene blue; Morphology; Nanocrystals; P-n junctions; Photocatalysts; Photodegradation; Photon correlation spectroscopy; Pollutants; Research Article; Scanning electron microscopy; Spectroscopy; Ultraviolet reflection; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; X ray fluorescence analysis; X-ray diffraction; X-ray fluorescence
• ISSN: 0944-1344; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-020-11221-0

The design of high-efficiency materials is a major challenge for the degradation of organic pollutants. In this work, type II p - n heterojunction photocatalyst Fe 2 TiO 5 /rGO, with enhanced performance, was successfully prepared through simple process. The Fe 2 TiO 5 /rGO composites were prepared by hosting several amounts of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) into pseudobrookite nanocrystals (Fe 2 TiO 5 ) which were priorly synthesized by a solid-state reaction. The morphology and the properties of the as-prepared composites were characterized through different techniques. The fixation of rGO sheets on Fe 2 TiO 5 was proved using the X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD). The results of the scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis showed a good mixing of rGO with Fe 2 TiO 5 . The X-ray fluorescence (XRF) confirmed the purity of the pristine Fe 2 TiO 5 . The dynamic light scattering (DLS) illustrated a strong tendency to aggregation. Ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-Vis DRS) analysis was performed to characterize the electronic aspect as the gap and the Urbach energies. Finally, computational density functional theory (DFT) calculations were carried out to confirm the experimental results. The adsorptive and photoactivity of Fe 2 TiO 5 /rGO heterojunction photocatalysts were evaluated by methylene blue (MB) degradation under visible light irradiation. The highest MB degradation rate was achieved for Fe 2 TiO 5 /rGO 10% photocatalyst with the highest value of the elimination rate.