In this work, a series of Al-doped ZnO nanoparticles-reduced graphene oxide (AZO–RGO) nanocomposites were successfully synthesized by loading AZO nanoparticles (AZO NPs) on the graphene oxide sheets via in situ and low temperature solvothermal method. Several techniques were utilized to characterize the resultant nanocomposites including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and FT-Infra Red (FT-IR) analyses. SEM and TEM studies showed that AZO NPs have been formed on RGO surface, confirming the formation of AZO–RGO nanocomposites. XPS, FT-IR, and XRD analyses revealed that the oxygen-containing functional groups can prepare as anchoring sites for capturing AZO NPs on RGO surface. Moreover, it was observed that these nanoparticles have wurtzite structure. The photo-catalysis results showed that the 5% AZO–RGO nanocomposite has a higher efficiency than that of pure ZnO and ZnO–RGO samples for removing methyl orange dye from water under visible light irradiation. The enhancement in the photocatalytic activity can be attributed to the increase of surface area of AZO–RGO nanocomposites in comparison with pure ZnO. Furthermore, the existing of Al dopants and RGO sheets in the prepared samples can effectively decrease the charge recombination process in the AZO–RGO nanocomposites. © 2018, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

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