article · RSC Advances
Graphene oxide nanosheets were synthesised and combined with iron oxide and zirconium oxide to produce two hybrid materials: a graphene oxide-iron oxide composite and a graphene oxide-iron oxide-zirconium oxide composite. Comprehensive structural characterisation was carried out using transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, zeta potential measurements, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Compared to pristine graphene oxide, the resulting nanocomposites demonstrated smaller band gaps, which led to enhanced adsorption capacity and superior photocatalytic behaviour. The composite materials exhibited strong capabilities in decomposing cationic rhodamine B dye, as verified by steady-state absorption, fluorescence spectroscopy, and time-resolved laser techniques. Additionally, testing showed that both the base graphene oxide and the metal oxide nanocomposites possess antibacterial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.
Water contamination from synthetic industrial dyes and microbial pathogens presents severe environmental and public health hazards. Developing dual-function nanomaterials that both capture and degrade chemical pollutants while neutralising harmful bacteria offers a pathway towards cleaner water supplies. Enhancing graphene oxide with metal oxides yields improved light absorption and chemical efficiency for these remediation tasks.
The material could enable integrated wastewater decontamination systems, serving industrial dye processors, textile manufacturers, and municipal water treatment operators. Given that the abstract reports only laboratory-scale material synthesis and benchtop degradation tests, this technology sits at an early stage of research and would require pilot testing and scalable manufacturing validation before commercial deployment.
AI-generated from the published abstract. Always read the original work before citing.
The fabrication and characterization of graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets and their reaction with Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> and ZrO<sub>2</sub> metal oxides to form two nanocomposites, namely graphene oxide-iron oxide (GO-Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub>) and graphene oxide-iron oxide-zirconium oxide (GO-Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub>@ZrO<sub>2</sub>), have been examined. The fabricated nanocomposites were examined using different techniques, <i>e.g.</i>transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, zeta potential measurement and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Compared to GO, the newly fabricated GO-Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> and GO-Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub>@ZrO<sub>2</sub> nanocomposites have the advantage of smaller band gaps, which result in increased adsorption capacity and photocatalytic effects. The results also showed the great effect of the examined GO-metal oxide nanocomposites on the decomposition of cationic rhodamine B dye, as indicated by steady-state absorption and fluorescence, time correlated single photon counting and nanosecond laser photolysis techniques. The antibacterial activity of the fabricated GO and GO-metal oxides has been studied against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.
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DOI: 10.1039/c8ra00977e
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