Microwave Irradiation Synthesis of TiO2/Graphene Nano-Hybrid using Titanium Butoxide with Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity

Nanoscale hybridization of graphene is a popular way to create highly conductive composite materials and surfaces with enhanced light absorption. In this study,TiO2/graphene nano-hybrid, is prepared by direct growth of TiO2 nanoparticles on graphene oxide sheets. Graphene oxide was produced by an improved Hummer’s method. In this study titanium butoxide, an inorganic titanium source, is added into a water/ethanol mixture with graphene oxide to produce the TiO2/graphene-oxide nano-hybrid. Microwave irradiation was used to reduce graphene oxide into graphene and therefore produced TiO2/graphene nano-hybrid. The synthesized hybrid shows almost two times higher photocatalytic performance compared to P25, commercial titania, in degradation of methylene blue. SEM, XRD, FTIR and UV-vis spectroscopy were used to characterize the synthesized material. FTIR detection of Ti-O-C bond confirms the formation of the nano-hybrid of graphene with titania nanoparticles.