Reduced Graphene Oxide-Silver Nanoparticle Composite as Visible Light Photocatalyst for Degradation of Colorless Endocrine Disruptors

• Published in: ACS applied materials & interfaces 2014-11, Vol.6 (22), p.20085-20092
• Main Authors: Bhunia, Susanta Kumar, Jana, Nikhil R
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Atrazine - chemistry; Atrazine - metabolism; Benzhydryl Compounds - chemistry; Benzhydryl Compounds - metabolism; Catalysis; Endocrine Disruptors - chemistry; Endocrine Disruptors - metabolism; Graphite - chemistry; Light; Metal Nanoparticles - chemistry; Oxides - chemistry; Phenol - chemistry; Phenol - metabolism; Phenols - chemistry; Phenols - metabolism; Silicon Dioxide - chemistry; Silver - chemistry
• ISSN: 1944-8244; 1944-8252
• DOI: 10.1021/am505677x

Sunlight-induced degradation of organic pollutants is an ideal approach for environmental pollution control and wastewater treatment. Although a variety of photocatalysts have been designed toward this goal, efficient degradation of colorless organic pollutants by visible light is a challenging issue. Here, we show that a reduced graphene oxide (rGO)-based composite with silver nanoparticle (rGO–Ag) can act as an efficient visible-light photocatalyst for the degradation of colorless organic pollutants. We have developed a simple, large-scale synthesis method for rGO–Ag and used it for the degradation of three well-known endocrine disruptors (phenol, bisphenol A, and atrazine) under UV and visible light. It is found that photocatalytic efficiency by rGO–Ag under visible light is significantly higher compared to that of rGO or silver nanoparticles. It is proposed that Ag nanoparticles offer visible-light-induced excitation of silver plasmons, and conductive rGO offers efficient charge separation and thus induces oxidative degradation of the organic pollutant. This approach can be extended for sunlight-induced degradation of different organic pollutants.