Gamma Irradiation-Assisted Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticle-Embedded Graphene Oxide-TiO2 Nanotube Nanocomposite for Organic Dye Photodegradation

Abstract

In this work, silver nanoparticle- (AgNP-) embedded graphene oxide- (GO-) TiO2 nanotube (TNT) nanocomposite (labelled GAT) was successfully synthesized by gamma ray radiolysis. The influence of irradiation process, including one-step and two-step assistances and at different irradiation doses (5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 kGy), on the GAT’s physicochemical properties was achieved. Structure and properties of irradiated materials were analyzed by Fourier-transformed infrared (FT-IR), ultraviolet-visible absorption (UV-Vis), and Raman spectroscopies; X-ray diffraction (XRD); and scanning electron (SEM) and transmission electron (TEM) microscopies. In addition, selective scavengers of e-aq and ⋅OH radicals were used to investigate the radiolytic synthesis of GAT nanocomposite. It was revealed that gamma ray irradiation could strongly support the relation of the composite synthesis. Furthermore, the synthesized GAT nanocomposites showed a significant effect for Rhodamine B (RhB) photodecomposition after 60 minutes of natural sunlight exposure and evaluation by UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy. Briefly, the obtained results highlighted the potential of gamma irradiation as a “clean” and controllable way for synthesizing beneficial nanocomposite materials for wastewater purification and other environmental aspects.