Hydrothermal synthesis of manganese oxide and nitrogen doped graphene (NG-MnO2) nanohybrid for visible light degradation of methyl orange dye

MnO₂ nanoparticles and its nanocomposite with nitrogen-doped graphene (NG) have been fabricated via simple hydrothermal synthesis procedure using water as a solvent. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis of the as-prepared samples was used to ascertain the phase purity and crystallite size. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were employed to study the surface features and particle size of the synthesised samples. The photocatalytic ability of the methyl orange (MO) dye with bare MnO₂ and its hybrid with nitrogen-doped graphene (NG-MnO₂) wer compared with visible light prompted degradation of the dye in absence of these catalysts. The prepared nanohybrid (NG-MnO₂) showed improved photocatalytic efficacy as compared to the pure MnO₂ nanoparticles. The strong ferromagnetic character of nanohybrid helps in easy separation of catalyst even with a bar magnet.