Synthesis of titanium dioxide–reduced graphite oxide nanocomposites and their photocatalytic performance

Abstract

Chemically bonded titanium dioxide (TiO2)–reduced graphite oxide (RGO) composites have been successfully prepared with graphite oxide and peroxotitanium complex by low-temperature liquid reaction. The prepared TiO2 nanoparticles with diameters of about 10 nm consisted of anatase phase and a slight amount of brookite phase. In the TiO2–RGO composites, TiO2 nanoparticles were uniformly dispersed on the RGO surface from the scanning electron microscopy images. The as-prepared TiO2–RGO composites exhibited much higher efficiency in the degradation of methylene blue under ultraviolet light irradiation compared with pure TiO2 nanoparticles. In addition, the influences of the RGO content in the TiO2–RGO composites on the photocatalytic degradation activity were also researched.