A novel 3D structured reduced graphene oxide/TiO2 composite: synthesis and photocatalytic performance

In this study, TiO2 hollow microspheres with high photocatalytic activity were prepared by simply optimizing the ratio of the as-used templates (poly(4-styrenesulfonate) (PSS) and triblock copolymer P123). In particular, a novel three-dimensional (3D) reduced graphene oxide/TiO2 (rGO/TiO2) hybrid composite was for the first time prepared by wrapping TiO2 hollow microspheres with rGO sheets via a facile solvothermal route using poly(L-lysine) (PLL) and ethylene glycol (EG) as coupling agents. The structural, morphological and photocatalytic properties of the as-synthesized products were examined. It is found that rGO/TiO2 hybrid composite exhibits markedly enhanced photocatalytic performance in comparison with pure TiO2 hollow microspheres and the simple mixture of rGO and TiO2 spheres. The rational design, interesting structure and ideal photocatalytic performance of this graphene-based composite show great promise in diverse fields.