Facile sonochemical synthesis of BiOBr-graphene oxide nanocomposite with enhanced photocatalytic activity for the degradation of Direct green

The BiOBr-graphene oxide (BiOBr-GO) nanocomposite was successfully synthesized by sonochemical method. The as-synthesized nanocomposite was characterized by Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The effect of incorporation of graphene-oxide with BiOBr on photocatalytic performance of BiOBr under exposure of UV–Visible light irradiation was systematically investigated. The percent removal of Direct green by BiOBr-GO at pH 7 was found to be 91.9% while by pure BiOBr it was 37%. This exhibits that BiOBr-GO shows enhanced adsorption and photocatalytic performance for removal of Direct green under UV–Visible light irradiation. Mechanism of Direct green degradation can be explained by AOP involving heterogeneous photocatalysis. The probable mechanism of photocatalytic degradation and mineralization of Direct green also explained by LC–MS analysis. The mineralization efficiency indicates the 91.7% TOC removal for the degradation of Direct green by BiOBr-GO.