Improving the photocatalytic performance of TiO2 via hybridizing with graphene

In this paper an improvement in the photocatalytic performance of TiO2 was carried out via hybridizing with graphene. Graphene-TiO2 (GR-TiO2 / nanocomposites with different weight addition ratios of graphene oxide (GO) have been prepared via a facile microwave irradiation of GO and tetrabutyl titanate in isopropyl alcohol. Raman spectroscopy (RS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and photoluminescence spectra (PL) are employed to determine the properties of the samples. Microwave irradiation can heat the reactant to a higher temperature in a short time, simultaneously GO is reduced to graphene and TiO2 nanoparticles grown on the surface of GR. GR-TiO2 nanocomposites synthesized via this approach have efficient electron conductivity in GR, resulting in a reduced electron-hole recombination rate. Among the synthesized nanocomposites, GT-8wt% exhibited the best photocatalytic activity toward photocatalytic degradation of MB. Our current work provides a new insight for the fabrication of GR-TiO2 nanocomposites within a short reaction time and also explains the mechanism of photocatalysis employing radical and hole scavengers.