Optical Investigation of Reduced Graphene Oxide / Titanium Dioxide Nanocomposite Thin Films Synthesized by Hydrothermal Method

Abstract

The growing need for unique optical properties in the manufacturing of electronic devices has led the world to the field of hybrid materials and their composites. In this study, a simple physical technique was used to successfully manufacture hybrid nanocomposites containing nanoparticles of titanium dioxide (TiO2) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) from tetrabutyl titanate (TBT) and graphene oxide (GO) powder using the hydrothermal method. For two hydrothermal treatment times (12h and 24h), various samples were created: TiO2, rGO, and TiO2/rGO nanocomposites thin films. Fourier transformer infrared (FTIR) spectra of the samples gave clear evidence for the reduction of GO and the engagement of Ti with reduced graphene by the formation of a Ti-O-C bond. The measurement of the energy band gap obtained by the photoluminescence spectrometer shows a decrease in the energy band gap for all samples after the hydrothermal reaction time increases, for the composite, the band gap decreases to 2.65 eV and 2.64 eV.