Enhanced photocatalytic degradation of organic dye by CeO2/CNT/GO hybrid nanocomposites under UV light for wastewater treatment

• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-023-26184-1
• Publication Date: 2023-03-03T11:02:36Z
• Authors: Surjeet Chahal; Lakshita Phor; Ashok Kumar; Suresh Kumar; Sandeep Kumar; Ravi Kumar; Parmod Kumar
• Keywords: Cerium oxide; Degradation; Hybrid material

Development of nanocomposites as efficient photocatalysts for the removal of hazardous organic pollutants is always in dire demand due to increase in water pollution. In this article, a facile sol-gel method has been used to synthesize cerium oxide (CeO2) nanoparticles followed by their decoration over multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene oxide (GO) to construct binary as well ternary hybrid nanocomposites using ultrasonic treatment. The oxygen vacancy defects have been depicted using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) that may result into improved photocatalytic efficiency. The ternary hybrid nanocomposites (CeO2/CNT/GO) showed excellent photocatalytic efficiency towards degradation of rose bengal (RB) dye up to 96.9% in 50 min. CNTs and GO provide the interfacial charge transfer which inhibits the electron-hole pair recombination. The results obtained here indicate that these composites can be effectively utilized as promising materials for the degradation of harmful organic pollutants for wastewater treatment.