Graphene oxide–metal oxide nanocomposites: fabrication, characterization and removal of cationic rhodamine B dye

Abstract

The fabrication and characterization of graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets and their reaction with Fe₃O₄ and ZrO₂ metal oxides to form two nanocomposites, namely graphene oxide-iron oxide (GO-Fe₃O₄) and graphene oxide-iron oxide-zirconium oxide (GO-Fe₃O₄@ZrO₂), 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-Fe₃O₄ and GO-Fe₃O₄@ZrO₂ 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.