Andri Hardiansyah, Rifqi Fajar Maulana, Murni Handayani, Kuan-Syun Wang, Canggih Setya Budi, Nurfina Yudasari, Isnaeni Isnaeni, Yu-Wei Cheng, Ting-Yu Liu
Background Dye waste in waters, such as malachite green (MG), can be degraded using semiconductor photocatalysts, one of which is ZnO. However, ZnO has several disadvantages, such as a high electron-hole pair recombination rate and low photocatalytic ability in the visible light range. Here, we fabricate copper(II) oxide-zinc oxide/reduced graphene oxide (CuO-ZnO/rGO) nanocomposites for the photodegradation of MG dye. Methods The CuO-ZnO/rGO with variation of concentration 0.3 wt% (composite A), 0.9 wt% (composite B), and 1.5 wt% (composite C) was synthesized using the one-pot hydrothermal method (8 h, 180 °C). Significant findings FESEM observations show that CuO-ZnO/rGO nanocomposite has plate –rod like structures. Then, the EDS mapping shows that the sample contained Zn, Cu, O, and C elements, confirming the presence of the expected elements. XPS reveals that Zn-O, Cu-O, and the functional group of rGO are chemically bonded. Composite C can degrade MG dye by 94.4 and 90.8 % under UV and visible light irradiation, respectively and also shows a good level of reusability, about 87.4 and 83.1 % after 5 repetitions. TRPL measurement shows composite C has the longest electron-hole recombination time, namely 1.54 and 1.45 ns under UV and visible light irradiation, respectively. © 2025 Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers.
Research Center for Nanotechnology Systems, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Banten, Tangerang Selatan, 15314, Indonesia; Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Brawijaya University, East Java, Malang, 65145, Indonesia; Department of Materials Engineering, Ming Chi University of Technology, New Taipei, 24301, Taiwan; Research Center for Polymer Technology, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Banten, Tangerang Selatan, 15314, Indonesia; Research Center for Photonics, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Banten, Tangerang Selatan, 15314, Indonesia; Department of Chemical Engineering, Ming Chi University of Technology, New Taipei, 24301, Taiwan; Research Center for Intelligent Medical Devices, and Center for Plasma and Thin Film Technologies, Ming Chi University of Technology, New Taipei, 243303, Taiwan; Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Yuan Ze University, Taoyuan, 32003, Taiwan; College of Chemical Engineering and Center for Sustainability and Energy Technologies, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, 33302, Taiwan
