A novel CdO/graphene alkali-activated steel slag nanocomposite for photocatalytic degradation of dye wastewater

ABSTRACTA novel CdO/graphene alkali-activated steel slag nanocomposite (CdO/GASSN) was firstly prepared and was used for photocatalytic degradation of direct fast bordeaux (DFB) dye. X-ray diffraction results showed that nanocomposite contained two mineral phases including calcium silicate hydrate and cadmium oxide, and the crystallite sizes of CdO on nanocomposites were in nanoscale (20.3 nm and 25.7 nm). The pore size distribution results indicated that about 80% pore volume concentrated on the mesoporous range. UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra showed that the 8CdO/GASSN sample possessed the lowest band gap and exhibited the highest photocatalytic degradation efficiency closing to 100% under the irradiation of UV for 100 min. The photocatalytic degradation reaction belongs to the first-order reaction kinetics.