The first morphologically controlled synthesis of a nanocomposite of graphene oxide with cobalt tin oxide nanoparticles

Abstract

In the present research, the degradation and decolorization of Reactive Black 5 synthetic dye at 30 ppm concentration under sun irradiation in the presence of a newly synthesized graphene based cobalt tin oxide nanocomposite were investigated. These nanoparticles were synthesized by a simple hydrothermal approach using precursor chloride salt i.e., stannous chloride and cobalt chloride and then adsorbed on the surface of RGO by a solvothermal process by changing the condition. The newly synthesized product was subjected to various instrumentation to study the morphology and other properties. X-ray powder diffraction analysis (XRD) explained the structural composition and various parameters of the product, which were further verified by Vesta software. The surface morphology of the product was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and it was observed that the size of each cube was approximately 5–10 μm from every face of the cube. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) explained that the nanoparticles were within the range of 100–250 nm. These synthesized nanocubes were used in one more application, which was the investigation of the fuel efficiency in the presence of different concentrations of newly synthesized nanocomposites as a catalyst. The efficiency of kerosene oil was investigated by studying different parameters: the flash point, fire point, specific gravity, cloud point, pour point, and calorific value at increasing dosages of catalyst (0, 30, 60 and 90 ppm). It was observed that the values of these parameters changed significantly by changing the concentration of the catalyst dosage. The effect of the nanoparticles on the degradation of the RB 5 azo dye showed the highest removal percentage at the largest value of catalyst dosage, which was 0.70 mg ml⁻¹ with the highest value of 3 ml of hydrogen peroxide.