Preparation and Photocatalysis Properties of TiO2/Graphene Nanocomposites

In this work, a novel photocatalyst with excellent photocatalytic activities was developed by the combination of TiO2 with graphene oxide (GO). GO was firstly prepared by the chemical oxidation of graphite through Hummers method and the subsequent dispersion and exfoliation in water. Then, GO and P25 nanoparticles (commercial TiO2) were used as raw materials to synthesize TiO2/graphene (TiO2/GE) nanocomposites by using a one-step solvothermal method. TEM images clearly showed that TiO2 nanomaterials (the size of about 15 similar to 20 nm) were distributed well onto the two-dimensional (2D) graphene sheets, indicating the formation of TiO2/GE nanocomposites. XRD results indicated that TiO2/GE nanocomposites exhibited TiO2 crystalline phase structure. Meanwhile, it was demonstrated from the methylene blue (MB) photodegradation results that TiO2/GE nanocomposites possessed excellent photocatalytic activities with potential applications.