Abstract
The current work defines the synthesis of rutile, mesoporous ruthenium oxide (RuO2) decorated with graphene oxide (GO) by a simple hydrothermal method. The formation of RuO2-GO composite was confirmed by X-ray crystallographic studies. The Raman spectroscopic study shows the definite interaction between RuO2 nanostring and GO. The SEM, EDS, TEM and BET techniques were further employed for morphological characterization of the synthesized materials. The RuO2-GO composite is used as photocatalyst in water splitting reaction to evolve hydrogen and degradation of organic dye pollutant present in water. The RuO2-GO composite demonstrate significant absorption of visible light due to the narrow band gap of RuO2 which result in efficient charge collection and separation. The composite once exhibited enhanced H-2 evolution of 10.5 mmol/g over RuO2 and GO alone. The RuO2-GO composite was further evaluated for photocatalytic degradation of Methylene blue (MB). Decoloration of the MB was achieved completely within 1 h of exposure to solar irradiation. Reaction steps involved in photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction and MB degradation is discussed in detail and is justified with mass spectroscopy. The synthesized composite as a catalyst possesses good stability for hydrogen evolution and dye degradation under visible light irradiation which makes the RuO2-GO composite, a cost effective alternate material for both renewable energy sources and environmental remediation.