Flame deposition method for carbon nanoparticles employing green precursors and its composite with Au nanoparticles for photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue

Present article describes green synthesis of carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) with signature of graphene oxide using different organic precursors such as, almond flames, mustard oil, clarified butter (Indian ghee) and burnt almond residue (char). The presence of high percentage of carbon content in saturated fatty acids prompted the current research. The flames of these organic precursors lead to the deposition of self-assembled CNPs on a metallic substrate. The CNPs were characterized by UV-Visible, Raman spectroscopy, particle size analysis, XRD, SEM and TEM. UV-Visible spectroscopy showed absorbance of CNPs in the visible region. The formation of CNPs was confirmed from XRD analysis. The spherical shape and self-assembly of CNPs was observed from TEM images for all the samples. The CNPs were combined with gold NPs by chemical reduction method using hydrazine hydrate as reducing agent. CNPs and Au/C NPs were employed as photo-catalyst for degradation of the methylene blue (MB) under long UV as well as natural sunlight. The degradation of MB was studied by the first order of kinetics. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.