Phenol Abatement by Titanium Dioxide Photocatalysts: Effect of The Graphene Oxide Loading

Usuma Naknikham, Giuliana Magnacca, Ang Qiao, Peter Kjær Kristensen, Vittorio Boffa, Yuanzheng Yue

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

17 Citations (Scopus)
73 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Hetero-photocatalytic graphene-TiO 2 materials have, in the literature, been found to possess better photocatalytic activity for environmental applications compared to pure TiO 2. These types of materials can be prepared in different ways; however, their photocatalytic performance and quality are not easily controlled and reproduced. Therefore, we synthetized graphene oxide-TiO 2 nanoparticles by sol-gel reaction from TiCl 4, as precursor, with two different methods of synthesis and with a graphene oxide (GO) loading ranging from 0 to 1.0. This approach led to a good adhesion of GO to TiO 2 through the Ti-O-C bonding, which could enhance the photocatalytic performances of the materials. Overall, 0.05 wt % GO loading gave the highest rate in the photodegradation of phenol under visible light, while higher GO loadings had a negative impact on the photocatalytic performances of the composites. The 0.05 wt % GO-TiO 2 composite material was confirmed to be a promising photocatalyst for water pollutant abatement. The designed synthetic approach could easily be implemented in large-scale production of the GO-TiO 2 coupling materials.

Original languageEnglish
Article number947
JournalNanomaterials
Volume9
Issue number7
Number of pages11
ISSN2079-4991
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2019

Keywords

  • Graphene
  • Photocatalytic activity
  • Reproducibility
  • TiO
  • Water purification

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