Pt-induced electrochemical growth of ZnO rods onto reduced graphene oxide for enhanced photodegradation performance

Photodegradation of organic pollutants over semiconductor catalysts is considered to be a viable method for wastewater treatment. Of the different semiconductor photocatalysts, ZnO has been widely used for the photodegradation of organic pollutants. Meanwhile, graphene is being actively investigated as a cocatalyst for such processes. The high carrier transport rate of graphene can favor the transfer of photoexcited electrons, while the increased specific surface area provides adsorption sites for the organic effluent molecules, thereby improving overall photocatalytic activity. Therefore, in this study, Pt–ZnO–reduced graphene oxide (RGO) rods with different RGO contents are synthesize during a novel Pt-induced electrochemical method, where Zn∣ZnO acts as the anode and Pt∣H₂O∣H₂ acts as the cathode. The photocatalytic degradation activity of the Pt–ZnO–RGO rods is remarkably improved under UV–visible light irradiation, with the optimum loading RGO content of 1 wt%.