Synthesis of r-GO/TiO2 composites via the UV-assisted photocatalytic reduction of graphene oxide

Abstract

Reduced graphene oxide/TiO2 (rGO/TiO2) composites were synthesized by combined TiO2 and graphene oxide (GO) under ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. The influences of TiO2 content on the reduction degree of GO during synthesis of the rGO/TiO2 composites were investigated and characterized by XRD, Raman, FTIR, SEM and TEM. It is shown that the XRD diffraction peak of 2θ at 10° of the as-prepared GO decreases with the increasing amount of TiO2 added. When the weight ratio of GO:TiO2 is 2:1, the XRD diffraction peak of 2θ at 10° of graphene oxide almost disappears. At a GO:TiO2 of 1:2, the OH functional groups, carboxylic and carbonyl, on the edge of the graphene oxide are effectively removed. Moreover, a morphological study shows the observation of graphene has a corrugated titanium oxide load and intercalation. The as-prepared rGO/TiO2 obtained from weight ratios of GO: TiO2 at 1: 2.5 showed a specific capacitance of 226.45Fg−1 at a scan rate of 10mVs−1 in 1M H2SO4 electrolyte solution.