Enhanced photocatalytic performance of TiO2 nanowires by substituting noble metal particles with reduced graphene oxide

Noble metal particles have been embedded in semiconductors to improve photocatalysis efficiently, but the high cost made this approach difficult to apply widely in industry. Herein titanium dioxide/reduced graphene oxide (TiO2/rGO) nanowires in a core-shell structure were prepared. The physicochemical properties and photo -catalytic performance of the specimen were characterized in comparison with TiO2 and TiO2/Pt nanowires. The rGO layer and Pt nanoparticles increased chemical states of the components, reduced bandgap energy of the nanowires, enhanced visible light absorption, improved conductance and capacitance significantly. The meth-ylene blue as catalyzed by TiO2/Pt and TiO2/rGO nanowires was degraded to 7.9% and 8.4% in an hour, but retained 25.7% by the TiO2 nanowires. The properties and function of TiO2/rGO nanowires were close to those of TiO2/Pt nanowires, while the rGO price was much lower than that of Pt, which was of great significance for the photocatalytic application of TiO2 heterojunction materials in industry.

Automated summary

In this study, core-shell structure titanium dioxide/reduced graphene oxide (TiO2/rGO) nanowires were prepared and characterized for their physicochemical properties and photocatalytic performance. The results showed that these nanowires exhibited properties and functions similar to TiO2/Pt nanowires, while the cost of rGO was lower, which was of great significance for the photocatalytic application of TiO2 heterojunction materials in industry.