Surfactant-assisted hydrothermal synthesis of TiO{sub 2}/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites and their photocatalytic performances

• Published in: Journal of solid state chemistry Vol. 253
• Main Authors: Hu, Ju, Li, Hansheng, Muhammad, Sohail, Wu, Qin, Zhao, Yun, Jiao, Qingze, School of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Beijing Institute of Technology, Zhuhai, Zhuhai 519085
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 15.09.2017
• Subjects: AMMONIUM COMPOUNDS; GRAPHENE; HYDROTHERMAL SYNTHESIS; INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY; MORPHOLOGY; NANOCOMPOSITES; NANOWIRES; OXIDATION; PHOTOCATALYSIS; SURFACTANTS; TITANIUM OXIDES
• ISSN: 0022-4596; 1095-726X
• DOI: 10.1016/J.JSSC.2017.05.034

Titanium dioxide/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites (TiO{sub 2}/RGO-X, X=S, T or C, was denoted sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate, Triton X-100 and cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide, respectively) were synthesized using a one-step surfactant-assisted hydrothermal method. The characterization of phase structure and morphology of the as-obtained nanocomposites reveals that TiO{sub 2} in the TiO{sub 2}/RGO-X exhibits the morphologies of nanoparticles, nanowires and array-like nanowires on the surface of RGO, respectively. Compared with the control TiO{sub 2}/RGO nanocomposite, TiO{sub 2}/RGO-X presents an excellent photocatalytic activity. With uniform array-like TiO{sub 2} nanowires on the surface of RGO, the TiO{sub 2}/RGO-C shows a significant enhancement in the photocatalytic efficiency. Besides, a deeper insight into the growth mechanism of TiO{sub 2}/RGO nanocomposites is put forward. This work indicates that the surfactant-assisted hydrothermal method is an effective approach to improve the structure, morphology and photocatalytic performance of TiO{sub 2}/RGO composites. Moreover, the surfactants with various types can interact with the precursors of TiO{sub 2} and RGO in different ways. - Graphical abstract: Illustration of the preparation processes and their photocatalytic performances of TiO{sub 2}-based nanocomposites Display Omitted - Highlights: • TiO2/RGO synthesized with different surfactants show diverse morphologies. • The growth mechanisms of TiO2/RGO assisted with surfactants are deep researched. • With the assistance of CTAB, TiO2/RGO-C contains uniform array-like TiO2 nanowire. • TiO2/RGO-C exhibits a significant enhancement of its photocatalytic efficiency.