Thermally-exfoliated graphene Oxide/ZnO nanocomposite catalysts for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution and antibacterial activities

Carbon nanomaterials are of great interest due to their enhanced charge separation in hydrogen evolution reactions. Herein, heterostructured TEGO/ZnO nanocomposite catalyst was obtained by combining 3D multilayer graphene-like nanomaterial obtained by green process from recycled carbon source with ZnO to improve photocatalytic activity. Here, photodeposition of MoSx and Pt in aqueous solution is performed on TEGO/ZnO nanocomposite to obtain TEGO/ZnO/MoSx and TEGO/ZnO/Pt by reducing (NH4)2MoS4 and H2PtCl6.6H2O, respectively. Photodeposited MoSx and Pt on TEGO/ZnO nanocomposite resulted in enhanced photocatalytic activity and stability due to increased active sites and enhanced electron transfer ability due to cocatalyst effect. In addition, antibacterial activity of TEGO/ZnO nanocomposite against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus was investigated by bacterial growth kinetic assay. This work could open up a new nanomaterial for chemical and biological applications.