Graphite oxide–TiO 2 nanocomposite and its efficient visible-light-driven photocatalytic hydrogen production

Abstract

Graphite oxide (GO)–TiO 2 nanocomposite was prepared by a facile hydrothermal process and was characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, Transmission electron microscopy, UV–vis diffusion reflectance spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. TiO 2 particles with average particle size of ∼20 nm in the nanocomposites are attached to the surface of GO and/or intercalated into the interlayer of GO. The obtained GO–TiO 2 was used as photocatalyst for H 2 production under visible light ( λ ≥ 420 nm) irradiation, and an optimal photocatalytic H 2 production rate of 380 μmol h −1 can be obtained over 2 wt% GO–TiO 2. The encouraging results presented here demonstrate that GO can serve as visible-light-driven photocatalyst and photosensitizer to expand the photoresponsive range of TiO 2 to visible light for H 2 production. The possible mechanism for H 2 production was proposed for better understanding the visible-light-driven photocatalytic behaviour of the GO–TiO 2 nanocomposite.