Abstract
Aniline is one of the most important chemicals for being a major compound in many industries such as plastics, explosives, dyes and other industries. Photocatalysis has displayed impressive results for the green production of aniline. In this investigation, simple sol-gel regime was adopted successfully to synthesize MnCo2O4 nano particles (NPs) that were subsequently dispersed on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) in the progression of MnCo2O4/rGO nanocomposite. The results of the various analyzes revealed that prepared nanocomposites possessed improved absorption in the visible light region implying that photocatalytic effectiveness of these materials will increase significantly in this region of radiation. Inclusion of 15 wt% of rGO to MnCo2O4 NPs contributed remarkably to the bandgap regression from 1.90 to 1.66 eV. The results derived from photoluminescence and transient photocurrent experiments verified that photoinduced charges within the prepared MnCo2O4/rGO nanocomposites have weak capability to recombine. It has been shown that nitrobenzene could be reduced entirely into aniline over the optimized MnCo2O4/rGO nanocomposite when subjected to visible light for 30 min. Recycled photocatalysts displayed considerable durability and stability when reused many durations for nitrobenzene reduction. Synthesized nanocomposites could be applied on a larger scale to prepare many organic compounds under the visible light illumination.