  Photocatalytic water splitting has greatly stimulated as an ideal technique
for producing hydrogen (H$_{2}$) fuel by employing two renewable sources, i.e.,
water and solar energy. Here, we have adopted a facile hydrothermal approach
for the successful synthesis of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) incorporated
Fe/MgO nanocomposites followed by thermal treatment at inert atmosphere to
investigate their ability for photodegradation and photocatalytic hydrogen
evolution via water splitting. Transmission Electron Microscopy images of
Fe/MgO-rGO nanocomposite ensured the distribution of Fe/MgO nanoparticles
throughout rGO sheets. Notably, all rGO supported nanocomposites, especially
the one, thermally treated at 500 $^{o}$C at Argon (Ar) atmosphere has
demonstrated significantly higher photocatalytic efficiency towards the
photodegradation of a toxic textile dye, rhodamine B, than pristine MgO and
commercially available Degussa P25 titania nanoparticles as well as other
composites. Under solar irradiation, Fe/MgO-rGO(500) nanocomposite exhibited
86% degradation of rhodamine B dye and generated almost four times higher
H$_{2}$ via photocatalytic water splitting compared to commercially available
P25 titania nanoparticles. This promising photocatalytic ability of the
Fe/MgO-rGO(500) nanocomposite can be attributed to the improved morphological
and surface features due to heat treatment at inert atmosphere as well as
escalated charge carrier separation with increased light absorption capacity
imputed to rGO incorporation.
