Synthesis and characterization of novel PbS–graphene/TiO2 composite with enhanced photocatalytic activity

Abstract

In this study novel material PbS–graphene/TiO2 composites were prepared by sol–gel method. The “as-prepared” composites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with an energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS) and Raman spectroscopic analysis. The photocatalytic activities were investigated by the degradation of methylene blue (MB) as a standard dye. We observed that coupling of PbS with TiO2 extends the photoresponse to visible region. This revealed that the excellent photoinduced charge separation abilities and transport properties of graphene make these hybrids as potential candidates for developing high-performance next-generation devices.