Cellulose acetate membrane doped with silver-reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites to enhance the visible-light photocatalytic degradation of organic contaminants

The discharge of organic pollutants exhibits considerable toxicity and resistance to standard degrading methods. For this, a cost-effective, visible-light-sensitive photocatalyst thin film of silver/reduced graphene oxide membrane (TFNC) was prepared. The incorporated Ag-rGO increased negative zeta potential. Furthermore, the introduction of AgNPs into rGO decreased the band-gap energy from 2.64 to 2.45 eV, which enhanced effectiveness in the visible-light spectrum. Consequently, the Ag-rGO catalyst significantly improved the decolorization efficiency of Rhodamine B (RhB) in visible light, achieving 97.415% and 98.84% for batch and continuous tests, respectively. However, it only achieved 61.1% under UVC light exposure (> 254) and 79.64% in the case of UVA light exposure (> 364). The decolorization of real textile wastewater revealed that the pure Ag-rGO and TFNC membranes achieved TOC removals of 94.58% and 91.30%, respectively. As a result, this study provides an environmentally friendly and highly effective photodegradation approach for organic pollutant degradation.

Ag-GO and PA-Ag-GO-CA photocatalysts for removal of organic wastewater under visible light.