Synthesis, structural, and optical properties of MnO2/AC/r-GO nanocomposites for highly efficient under visible light photocatalytic activity

Significant increases in photocatalytic degradation performance have been partially attributed to the contributions of AC, r-GO, MnO2, and their composite species. Activated carbon, r-GO, and MnO2 are dispersed and in good touch with one another. The current study describes the hydrothermal synthesis of nanorod-shaped MnO2 nanostructures and MnO2/AC, MnO2/r-GO, and MnO2/AC/r-GO (MAG NCs) NCs. Various analytical methods were used to examine the structural, bonding, morphological, and photocatalytic aspects of the material. Morphological characterizations (SEM, FE-SEM, and TEM) demonstrated that activated carbon and r-GO coated the MnO2 nanorods. The MAG surface area was studied using BET analysis. Remarkably, MAG NCs have a surface area of 68.8 m(2)g(-1). According to the UV-Vis DRS findings, the optical absorption of MAG NCs was blue-shifted into the visible range. Furthermore, photocatalytic elimination of MO dye in aqueous solution employing the resultant catalysts reaches a maximum degradation efficiency of 97.36% under visible light irradiation for 60 min as compared to MnO2/AC (83.11%), MnO2/r-GO (81.81%), and MnO2 (64.17%). The blue-shifted band gap was attributable to the increase in photocatalytic degradation efficiency of MAG NCs (2.148 eV). Furthermore, the MAG ternary NCs had remarkable chemical stability and had a wide range of applications in photocatalytic dye degradation and wastewater treatment.