Synergistic effects in ZnO nanorod films by pulsed electrodeposition on graphene oxide towards enhanced photocatalytic degradation

In this work the synthesis, characterization and photocatalytic activity of novel graphene oxide-supported ZnO nanostructured film are reported. The ZnO film was deposited onto GO layer in a two-step procedure varying the deposition mode. The electrodeposited ZnO films were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Xray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The effect of the electrodeposition mode and GO presence on the properties of the ZnO nanostructured film was assessed. The applicability towards the adsorption, photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) for the obtained films was analyzed. The results indicated the electrodeposition pulses result in a strong interaction between ZnO and GO results, lower c-axis strain of the deposited ZnO and higher oxygen vacancies. Synergistic effect of oxygen vacancies and morphology towards degradation performance was indicated. Both adsorption and photocatalysis towards the degradation of MB on the modified ZnO films were observed, 52 % degradation efficiency being recorded in 90 min with a rate constant of 0.00171 min-1 under low UV irradiation, with respect to 5 % corresponding to ZnO film obtained in single step by direct mode and in absence of GO layer. A recycling experiment indicated excellent stability of the photocatalyst, the degradation efficiency reaching 98 % after 3 successive runs.