Photocatalyst nanocomposite

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2020391190-A1
Application number	US-201916437614-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 11, 2019
Priority date	Jun 11, 2019
Publication date	Dec 17, 2020
Grant date	—

Abstract

An efficient photocatalyst nanocomposite comprising reduced graphene oxide, noble metal, and a metal oxide prepared by a one-step method that utilizes date seed extract as a reducing and nanoparticle determining size agent. The photocatalyst of the invention is a more effective sunlight photocatalyst than that prepared by traditional method in the photo decomposition of organic compounds in contaminated water.

First claim

1 . A photocatalyst nanocomposite, comprising:
noble metal nanoparticles, metal oxide nanoparticles, and reduced graphene oxide (rGO), wherein the photocatalyst nanocomposite comprises rGO in an amount in the range of 40 wt. % to 60 wt. % of the total weight of the photocatalyst nanocomposite, wherein the noble metal nanoparticles have a diameter in the range of 5 nm to 50 nm and are dispersed on the metal oxide nanoparticles which are present on the rGO; the metal oxide nanoparticles have a diameter in the range of 20 nm to 80 nm; and the noble metal nanoparticles are present in an amount in the range of 2 mol. % to 10 mol. % based on the molar amount of the metal oxide nanoparticles; and wherein the metal oxide nanoparticles comprise a metal oxide of at least one metal selected from the group consisting of Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Zn, Y, Zr, Nb, and Mo.

2 . The photocatalyst nanocomposite of claim 1 , wherein the photocatalyst composite comprises rGO in an amount in the range of 48 wt. % to 52 wt. % of the total weight of the nanocomposite.

3 . The photocatalyst nanocomposite of claim 1 , wherein the noble metal nanoparticles have a diameter in the range of 10-30 nm.

4 . The photocatalyst nanocomposite of claim 1 , wherein the noble metal nanoparticles are selected from the group consisting of ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, silver, osmium, iridium, platinum, and gold.

5 . The photocatalyst nanocomposite of claim 1 , wherein the noble metal nanoparticles are gold.

6 . The photocatalyst nanocomposite of claim 1 , wherein the metal oxide is an oxide of a metal selected from the group consisting of Ti, V, Mn, and Zn.

7 . The photocatalyst nanocomposite of claim 1 , wherein the metal oxide is hexagonal wurtzite ZnO.

8 . The photocatalyst nanocomposite of claim 1 , wherein the metal oxide nanoparticles have diameter in the range of 25-50 nm.

9 . The photocatalyst nanocomposite of claim 1 , wherein the photocatalyst nanocomposite comprises 5 mol. % of Au based on the molar amount of the ZnO.

10 . A photocatalyst nanocomposite, comprising:
gold nanoparticles, ZnO nanoparticles, and reduced graphene oxide (rGO), wherein the photocatalyst nanocomposite comprises the rGO in an amount in the range of 45 wt. % to 55 wt. % of the total weight of the photocatalyst nanocomposite; wherein the gold nanoparticles have a diameter in the range of 10 nm to 30 nm; wherein the gold nanoparticles are dispersed on hexagonal wurtzite ZnO nanoparticles having diameter in the range of 20 nm to 60 nm; and wherein the gold nanoparticles are present in an amount in the range of 2 mol. % to 10 mol. % based on the molar amount of the zinc oxide nanoparticles.

11 . The photocatalyst nanocomposite of claim 10 , comprising gold nanoparticles in an amount of about 49 wt. %,
ZnO nanoparticles in an amount of about 45.5 wt. %, and reduced graphene oxide in an amount of about 5.5 wt. %, of the total weight of the photocatalyst nanocomposite.

12 . A method of making the photocatalyst nanocomposite of claim 1 , comprising:
preparing an aqueous suspension of a metal salt, a noble metal precursor, and graphene oxide, mixing the aqueous suspension with date seed extract to form a mixture, and heating the mixture at temperature in the range of 100-200° C. for a time in the range of 10 to 20 hours; wherein the date seed extract is prepared by grinding date seed and heating the ground date seed in water at a temperature in the range of 60 to 100° C. for a time in the range of 1 to 5 hours and separating solids to form the date seed extract in the form of a liquid.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the molar amount of the noble metal precursor is in the range of 1 mol. % to 10 mol. % of the molar amount of the metal salt.

14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the metal salt is zinc acetate and the noble metal precursor is chloroauric acid (HAuCl 4 ).

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the amount of graphene oxide in the suspension is the range of 40 wt. % to 60 wt. % of the total weight of the total amount of graphene oxide, metal salt, and noble metal precursor.

16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the molar amount of the noble metal precursor is in the range of 1 mol. % to 10 mol. % of the molar amount of the metal salt.

17 . A method of preparing a composition comprising noble metal nanoparticles, comprising:
preparing an aqueous solution or suspension comprising a noble metal precursor, mixing the aqueous suspension with date seed extract to form a mixture, and heating the mixture at temperature in the range of 100-200° C. for a time in the range of 10 to 20 hours; wherein the date seed extract is prepared by grinding date seed and heating the ground date seed in water at a temperature in the range of 60 to 100° C. for a time in the range of 1 to 5 hours, and separating solids to form the date seed extract in the form of a liquid, and the noble metal nanoparticles have a diameter in the range of 5 nm to 30 nm.

18 . A method of photodecomposing of an organic compound, comprising:
contacting the photocatalyst nanocomposite of claim 1 with an aqueous solution of an organic compound to form a mixture, and irradiating the mixture with sunlight.

19 . A process of purifying water contaminated with an organic material, comprising:
contacting the contaminated water with the photocatalyst nanocomposite of claim 11 , and irradiating the mixture with sunlight.

Assignees

• Univ Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal

Inventors

• Alomair Nuhad Abdullah
• Mohamed Hanan Hussein Amin

Classifications

• B01J2235/10

  Infrared [IR] · CPC title

• B01J35/45

  Nanoparticles · CPC title

• B01J2235/15

  X-ray diffraction · CPC title

• B01J2235/30

  Scanning electron microscopy; Transmission electron microscopy · CPC title

• B01J2235/00

  Indexing scheme associated with group B01J35/00, related to the analysis techniques used to determine the catalysts form or properties · CPC title