Copper and Graphene activated ZnO nanopowders for enhanced photocatalytic and antibacterial activities

ZnO, ZnO:Cu and ZnO:Cu:Graphene nanopowders were synthesized via a facile wet chemical method. The XRD studies show that the synthesized samples have hexagonal wurtzite structure. It is found that graphene addition induces a decrease in crystallite size. UV-vis absorption spectra of the samples show sharp absorption edges around 380 nm. Photoluminescence studies reveal that the incorporation of copper and graphene in ZnO facilitates the efficient photo generated electron-hole pair separation. It is found that the ZnO:Cu and ZnO:Cu:Graphene nanopowder exhibit improved photocatalytic efficiency for the photodegradation of Methylene Blue (MB) under visible light irradiation. Moreover, improved antibacterial activity of ZnO:Cu:Graphene nanopowder against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria is observed.