Preparation of a new adsorbent expanded perlite@ZnO@reduced graphene oxide for the synergistic photocatalytic–adsorption removal of organic pollutants

Abstract

In this work, the nanocomposite of perlite@ZnO@reduced graphene oxide (PZ-RGO) was successfully synthesized and characterized by XRD, FT-IR, Raman, and SEM images. Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) was used to find the photocatalytic ability of this nanocomposite. In addition, photocatalytic degradation of a few hazardous compounds (methylene blue, methyl orange, and 4-nitrophenol) by the prepared nanocomposite under visible light irradiation was reported. Photocatalytic–adsorption removal experiments demonstrated that PZ-RGO is an environmentally friendly photocatalyst and adsorbent with an excellent efficiency for the removal of the above organic pollutants.