Ce-/S-codoped TiO2/Sulfonated graphene for photocatalytic degradation of organic dyes

TiO2 is an abundant and environmentally benign material, but has a wide band gap, which greatly confines its applications in photocatalysis. Doping and modifying the material composition are both generally used to change and control the photocatalytic activity of semiconductors. Herein, we describe a method and resulting activity of depositing Ce-/S-codoped TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) on water-soluble sulfonated graphene (SGE) sheets, which guarantees a direct contact and satisfactory electron transfer between the semiconductor and graphene. The Ce/S-TiO2 NPs are homogeneously fixed on the surface of SGE sheets with an average particle size of similar to 7 nm. The resulting composite showed noticeable activity in photodegrading methyl orange (kappa = 0.425 h(-1)). This improved performance can be attributed to the synergistic effects of Ce- and S-codoping toward TiO2 and the composite action between TiO2 NPs and SGE. This type of novel composite is expected to stimulate the development of doped and graphene-involved photocatalysts for addressing environmental problems.