Facile synthesis of novel ZnO/RGO hybrid nanocomposites with enhanced catalytic performance for visible-light-driven photodegradation of metronidazole

• Facile fabrication of uniform ZnO nanoclusters and ZnO/RGO nanocomposites was realized.
• The photocatalytic properties of ZnO nanoclusters and ZnO/RGO nanocomposites were studied.
• ZnO/RGO nanocomposites exhibited superior visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity for the metronidazole degradation.

This study reported the first-time fabrication of uniform ZnO nanoclusters through a facile carbon nanosphere template-assisted approach, where the synthesized ZnO products were further decorated with the prepared reduced graphene oxide (RGO) to form novel ZnO/RGO nanocomposites. The as-synthesized materials were well characterized with the aid of various techniques, before they were used as photocatalysts for the degradation of metronidazole in the aqueous environment. Accordingly, the photocatalytic activity of the ZnO nanoclusters could be enhanced by coupling with RGO, where a large improvement (approx. 32.4% increase compared with pure ZnO) in the visible-light-driven degradation of metronidazole was observed on the prepared ZnO/RGO hybrid nanocomposites. Such study may provide insight into the usage of the ZnO/RGO composite in addressing broader environmental issues. The synthetic route employed in this work might also be extended to a useful technique for the preparation of assemblies of other materials based on nanoscale templates via easily-manipulated solution methods.

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