Characterization and photocatalytic performance of ternary Cu-doped ZnO/Graphene materials

We report a novel ternary nanocomposite photocatalyst exhibiting enhanced efficiency as compared to ZnO. The nanocomposite photocatalyst consists of Cu-doped ZnO and reduced graphene oxide (RGO). A facile one step microwave-assisted hydrothermal method, which requires no high calcination temperature or long process time, was used to synthesize the ternary nanocomposite. The photocatalytic activity of the obtained Cu-doped ZnO/RGO nanocomposite photocatalyst was evaluated by measuring the photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) in H2O. In the Cu-doped ZnO/RGO nanocomposite photocatalyst, the copper doping serves to enhance the visible light response due to the resulting ZnO bandgap narrowing and the RGO functions to reduce recombination due to the excellent electrical conductivity of the RGO. The material characteristics, which are important but often missing for a photocatalyst material, of the ternary nanocomposites have been determined. The relation between the material characteristics and the photocatalytic performance is explored.