Graphene Oxide Based Metal Oxide Nanocomposites for Environmental and Energy Applications

Abstract

Among the newly developed carbonaceous substances, graphene oxide (GO), which contains abundant functional oxygen groups in the basal plane of the two-dimensional carbon sheet, has gained significant attention due to its exceptional properties, including large surface area, superb electrical conductivity, and high chemical stability. These functional groups (such as carboxyl, hydroxyl, carbonyl, and so on) attached to the graphene oxide sheets, make the GO intermediate layer hydrophilic and allow it to be exposed to intercalation processes using other molecules/metals/metal oxides, etc., producing materials that have the potential to be used in a variety of applications. Incorporating metal oxide nanoparticles into GO matrices provides novel options for improving photocatalytic efficiency and electrochemical performances of these materials. The resulting materials exhibit enhanced photocatalytic activity due to the synergistic effects between GO and metal oxide nanoparticles. Due to the synergistic interactions between GO and metal oxide nanoparticles, incorporating them into GO matrices offers up new possibilities for enhancing their properties. In recent years, graphene oxide (GO)-metal oxide nanocomposites have emerged as promising materials for addressing the pressing global issue of water contamination due to organic dye effluents. This report discusses the preparation and application of graphene oxide based metal oxide (MnO2, NiO, MgO) nanocomposites for the photocatalytic degradation of organic dyes and the investigation of their electrochemical properties. The nanocomposites are synthesized via simple chemical precipitation as well as sonication-assisted methods and are further characterized by various techniques such as XRD, FTIR, UV-visible spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, FESEM microscopy, TGA/DSC analysis BET surface analysis etc. newline