Influence of thermal interfacings on reduced graphene oxide characteristics and its photocatalytic activity degrading Rhodamine B

Solar light is a free, abundant, and sustainable green energy that provides ten thousand times the amount of energy required by the world’s population. Almost one in ten individuals in the world does not have access to safe drinking water. Organic pollutants dyes, such as Rhodamine B, are the main causes of water-related infections, which lead to the deaths of many individuals each year. The photocatalytic redox capacity of currently available reduced graphene oxide meets this need. The Hummer’s synthesized GO was thermally reduced at various temperatures (300 °C, 400 °C, 500 °C, and 600 °C). The rGO’s physiochemical characteristics are highly influenced by the thermal interfacings. Due to the effects of temperatures, the rGO’s domain size becomes decreased to 4.7 nm and 4.4 nm with few numbers of layers under 500–600 °C. The bandgap was expanded from zero due to functional molecular impregnation and it was decreased toward 2 eV from 3 eV, by efficient thermal reductions which were assessed by absorption analysis. The attained superior redox characteristics on rGO layers by oxygen-based defects enable to degrade RhB organic dye molecules under natural sunlight within 80 min of irradiation. The catalyst can also be employed two more times without noticeably changing its ability to prevent deterioration. Thermal-based GO reduction promises to become a cost-effective, environmentally friendly sound, and viable option for a wide range of preparations with some structural defects.