Photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue dye in aqueous solution under UV irradiation using NdMnO3:rGO hybrid nanocomposites as a photocatalyst

Abstract

Nanostructured NdMnO3:rGO samples were synthesized via the ultrasonicated sol-gel method by adding rGO concentrations (0–20 wt.%). The formation of a pure orthorhombic structure having a “pnma” space group confirmed the absence of any secondary phase of nanocomposites. The bandgap of NdMnO3:rGO was determined from Tauc's plot to be 2.20–1.74 eV concerning the rGO concentrations. The highest photocatalytic degradation rate was achieved to be 0.530 for the particular rGO concentration of 20 wt.%. The enhanced photocatalytic activity of NdMnO3:rGO nanocomposite is attributed to the higher separation efficiency of photo-induced electron-hole pairs and the extensive surface contact between rGO and NdMnO3. These findings convincingly show that the NdMnO3:rGO photocatalysts possess great potential for UV–visible light-driven photodegradation of MB.

Keywords

• Ultrasonicated sol-gel synthesis of NdMnO3:rGO
• Microstructural and optical properties
• Photocatalytic degradation of MB