Enhanced photocatalytic performance of graphene-ZnO nanoplatelet composite thin films prepared by electrostatic spray deposition

Abstract

Graphene-ZnO (G-ZnO) composite thin films were produced using the electrostatic spray deposition technique (ESD). The effects of the concentration of graphene and annealing temperature on the structural and photocatalytic properties of the G-ZnO films were studied by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and UV-visible spectroscopy. We demonstrated that the G-ZnO films exhibit enhanced activities towards the photodegradation of methylene blue dye. A G-ZnO film with 0.1 wt% graphene that was annealed at 300 C showed the highest photo-degradation activity. We found that the incorporation of graphene reduced electron-hole recombination in the ZnO film. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l.