Synthesis and characterization of ZnGaO composites and its photocatalytic properties for energy applications.

ZnGaO nanocomposites have been widely used for photocatalytic degradation of industrial dyes. In this work, ZnGaO was synthesized from zinc sulphate heptahydrate ZnSO10HO and Gallium (III) oxide (GaO) by hydrothermal method. As prepared, ZnGaO nanocomposites was used as a photocatalyst degradation of three organic dyes rhodamine-B, methylene blue, and methyl orange, under ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation. The ZnGaO nanocomposites structure, morphology, size and optical properties were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform Raman spectroscopy (FT-Raman), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transmission electron microscopes (TEM) and photoluminescence spectra (PL). Moreover, the results explained the rate-controlling mechanisms of the dye degradation process followed by second-order kinetics. After 100 min of adsorption kinetic models, the decomposition of rhodamine-B (7.2 Ct mg/L, 5.2 Ct mg/L, and 4.1 Ct mg/L), methylene blue (42.8 qt mg/g, 44.8 qt mg/g, and 45.9 qt mg/g), and methyl orange (42.8 qe mg/g, 44.8 qe mg/g, and 45.9 qe mg/g) respectively. This investigation study offers a promising method to design more efficient ZnGaO nanocomposites based photocatalytic degradation of industrial organic dyes.