Nitrogen-plasma doped ZnO-graphene oxide compounds production and their photocatalytic performance

[Display omitted] •Nitrogen doping of ZnO improved their photocatalytic performance.•N-ZnO/GO reached high degradation rates in short times.•N-doping was efficiently carried out using a nitrogen plasma facility.•GO in N-ZnO/GO acts as electron transporter preventing recombination. The present work is aimed at developing ZnO compounds, doping them using a novel nitrogen plasma methodology, and supporting them on graphene oxide sheets, to efficiently carry out, the photodegradation of lignin. The synthesis of ZnO was carried out using a hydrothermal methodology using microwave heating. To provide explanation and support to this photocatalytic behavior, a complete set of characterization techniques was involved including UV–vis, Raman, and X-ray photoelectron (XPS) spectroscopies. Morphological and structural characterization was performed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The degradation tests were carried out under visible and ultraviolet radiation energy, reaching about 90% of lignin degradation in both cases. Our results demonstrate that nitrogen doping of ZnO, produced through a nitrogen plasma, favorably affects their photocatalytic performance.