Synthesis of reduced graphene oxide incorporated bimetallic (Cu/Bi) nanorods based photocatalyst materials for the degradation of gallic acid and bacteria

Abstract

Gallic acid (GA) is a polyphenols compound commonly present in wastewater that immensely affects aquatic and human life. GA is also responsible for the inhibitory effects on the microbial activity in the soil, thereby decreasing the fertility of the soil. Therefore, the removal of GA from the wastewater is necessary to combat such issues. The present study focused on the synthesis of reduced graphene oxide (r-GO) incorporated bimetallic (Cu/Bi) based nanorods (r-GO-Cu/Bi-NRs) and their photocatalytic applications. Incorporating GO within the CuBi2O4-NRs might decrease the bandgap value, thereby increasing the interfacial charge transfer. Moreover, GO increased the reactive sites and oxygen defects onto the r-GO-Cu/Bi-NRs that led to the separation rate of the photo-induced charge carriers and migration, thereby enhancing the photodegradation ability of the synthesized r-GO-Cu/Bi-NRs. The synthesis process of the r-GO-Cu/Bi-NRs is facile, novel, and economically viable for the photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants.