Issue 15, 2012

A facile one-step solvothermal synthesis of graphene/rod-shaped TiO2 nanocomposite and its improved photocatalytic activity

Abstract

Graphene sheets were obtained through solvothermal reduction of colloidal dispersion of graphene oxide in benzyl alcohol. The graphene/rod-shaped TiO2 nanocomposite was synthesized by this novel and facile solvothermal method. During the solvothermal reaction, both the reduction of graphene oxide and the growth of rod-shaped TiO2 nanocrystals as well as its deposition on graphene occur simultaneously. The photocatalytic activity of graphene/rod-shaped TiO2 and graphene/spherical TiO2 nanocomposites was compared. In the photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange (MO), the graphene/rod-shaped TiO2 nanocomposite with the optimized graphene content of 0.48 wt% shows good stability and exhibits a significant enhancement of photocatalytic activity compared to the bare commercial TiO2 (P25) and graphene/spherical TiO2 nanocomposite with the same graphene content. Photocurrent experiments were performed, which demonstrate that the photocurrent of the graphene/rod-shaped TiO2 nanocomposite electrode is about 1.2 times as high as that of the graphene/spherical TiO2 nanocomposite electrode. The photocatalytic mechanism of graphene/rod-shaped TiO2 nanocomposite was also discussed on the basis of the experimental results. This work is anticipated to open a possibility in the integration of graphene and TiO2 with various morphologies for obtaining high-performance photocatalysts in addressing environmental protection issues.

Graphical abstract: A facile one-step solvothermal synthesis of graphene/rod-shaped TiO2 nanocomposite and its improved photocatalytic activity

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
19 May 2012
Accepted
25 May 2012
First published
13 Jun 2012

Nanoscale, 2012,4, 4641-4649

A facile one-step solvothermal synthesis of graphene/rod-shaped TiO2 nanocomposite and its improved photocatalytic activity

P. Dong, Y. Wang, L. Guo, B. Liu, S. Xin, J. Zhang, Y. Shi, W. Zeng and S. Yin, Nanoscale, 2012, 4, 4641 DOI: 10.1039/C2NR31231J

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