Hydrothermal synthesis of TiO2/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite with enhanced photocatalytic activity

The composite of peanut-like TiO₂ nanoparticles and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) was successfully synthesised via a facile one-step hydrothermal method in mixed solvents of diethanol amine and distilled water. The crystallite, morphology and structure features of the composite were characterised by X-ray diffraction, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller specific area analysis, transmission electron microscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The results indicated that the as-synthesised TiO₂ was of peanut-like shape with about 21-32 nm in length and was anchored on the surface of the rGO sheet. In addition, the TiO₂/rGO composite presented excellent photocatalytic activity of rhodamine B under visible light irradiation compared with commercial Degussa P25. A proposed mechanism for the photocatalytic process is also discussed.