Preparation of graphene-TiO _2 composite by hydrothermal method from peroxotitanium acid and its photocatalytic properties

摘要

In this paper, an environmentally friendly and efficient strategy for the preparation of titanium oxide (TiO _2) nanoparticles-reduced graphene oxide (RGO) composite with hydrothermal process was demonstrated. First, we reduced graphene oxide to RGO by using dextran as reducing agent and surface modifier. Then the TiO _2 nanoparticles were successfully prepared from a water soluble precursor, peroxotitanium acid and attached to dextran-RGO nanosheets due to hydrogen bond and van der Waals interactions. The structure and composition of the nanocomposite has been characterized by UV-vis absorption spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy. The photodegradation and photoelectrochemical measurement results indicated that the as-prepared TiO _2/RGO composite had an excellent photocatalytic activity, which would be promising for practical application in future nanotechnology.