Wet chemical synthesis of C@Nd2O3/rGO nanocomposite: A visible light trigger photocatalyst for efficient water remediation

The rGO-supported C@Nd2O3 photocatalyst was designed and fabricated via a facile chemical approach, and ultrasound radiations, aiming to enhance the photocatalytic performance of a novel composite. Crystal structure, surface morphology, and chemical composition of as-synthesized samples were carried out through analytical techniques like UV, XRD, FT-IR, and FESEM. Physical investigation confirms the synthesis of nano-sized material formation. Methylene blue (MB) dye, an organic waste contaminant, in water under UV/simulated solar illumination was used as the benchmark reaction to assess the photocatalytic performance of C@Nd2O3/rGO. The synergism of ternary composite C@Nd2O3/rGO exhibited greater photocatalytic activity than C@Nd2O3. The photocatalytic efficiency of C@Nd2O3/rGO was found to be greatly increased by the impregnation of C@Nd2O3 over rGO sheets, as evidenced by the elimination of 90.93% of the dye under 60 min exposure to UV light. Eventually, the mechanism and pathway for methylene blue dye degradation by UV photocatalysis over C@Nd2O3/rGO composite was also proposed. Major oxidative species involved in the photocatalytic degradation of MB dye include superoxide radicals (O2−•), hydroxyl radicals (HO•), and holes (h+). The increased photocatalytic activity may be attributed to the creation of heterojunction, high charge separation and low recombination rate of photoinduced e− - h+ couples. It was established from obtained results that hydroxyl radicals generated in C@Nd2O3/rGO composite play a major role during photocatalysis. In photochemical applications, the synthesized photocatalyst is anticipated to be a promising material system.