Self‐assembly of different graphene‐modified morphologies of TiO 2 : nanoparticle, nanorod and nanowire for bisphenol‐A photodecomposition

Abstract

Different graphene (GR)-modified morphologies of TiO 2 including nanoparticles, nanorods and nanowires were prepared by a simple and efficient electrostatic self-assembly method followed by a hydrothermal reduction process. Characterisations reveal that different morphologies of TiO 2 are distributed on GR and that they decrease the electron-hole recombination rate and extend the light absorption range compared with pure TiO 2 . The as-prepared different morphologies of GR-modified TiO 2 nanocomposites are used to photodecompose bisphenol-A in water under visible-light irradiation. All morphologies of TiO 2 anchored onto the surface of a GR sheet exhibit higher photocatalytic activity under irradiation than pure TiO 2 . Photocatalytic activity is also increased by the increase in length of TiO 2 distributed on GR. The photodegradation activities of all GR/TiO 2 nanocomposites are stable under light after three successive cycles.