Arginine-Mediated Self-Assembly of Porphyrin on Graphene: A Photocatalyst for Degradation of Dyes

Porphyrin nanostructures with well-controlled size, shape and functionality can be used for visible-light photocatalysis. In this work, a graphene@porphyrin nanofibre composite was successfully fabricated via arginine-mediated self-assembly of tetrakis (4-carboxyphenyl) porphyrin (TCPP) on graphene nanoplates (GNPs). The formation and crystallisation of the graphene@porphyrin nanofibre composite was fully characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), fourier transform infrared (FTIR), ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) and fluorescence spectroscopy. The assembled TCPP nanofibers were 50-200 nm in diameter with length in micrometers long, which were densely and uniformly distributed on the surface of graphene. The GNPs@TCPP nanofibers showed enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity in comparison with free-standing TCPP nanorods for the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) and methyl orange (MO). The possible photodegradation mechanism of these dyes by the GNPs@TCPP nanofiber photocatalyst was proposed.