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Solvent effect on the structure and photocatalytic behavior of TiO2-RGO nanocomposites

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 November 2019

Bruno S. Gonçalves ,
Lucas M.C. Silva ,
Tarcizo C.C. de Souza ,
Vinícius G. de Castro ,
Glaura G. Silva ,
Bruno C. Silva ,
Klaus Krambrock ,
Renata B. Soares ,
Vanessa F.C. Lins  and
Manuel Houmard
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Bruno S. Gonçalves*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Engenharia Metalúrgica e de Materiais, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG 31270-901, Brasil
Lucas M.C. Silva
Affiliation:
Departamento de Engenharia Metalúrgica e de Materiais, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG 31270-901, Brasil
Tarcizo C.C. de Souza
Affiliation:
Centro de Tecnologia em Nanomateriais e Grafeno (CTNano), Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG 31270-901, Brasil
Vinícius G. de Castro
Affiliation:
Centro de Tecnologia em Nanomateriais e Grafeno (CTNano), Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG 31270-901, Brasil
Glaura G. Silva
Affiliation:
Centro de Tecnologia em Nanomateriais e Grafeno (CTNano), Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG 31270-901, Brasil; and Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG 31270-901, Brasil
Bruno C. Silva
Affiliation:
Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG 31270-901, Brasil
Klaus Krambrock
Affiliation:
Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG 31270-901, Brasil
Renata B. Soares
Affiliation:
Departamento de Engenharia Química, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG 31270-901, Brasil
Vanessa F.C. Lins
Affiliation:
Departamento de Engenharia Química, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG 31270-901, Brasil
Manuel Houmard*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Engenharia de Materiais e Construção, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG 31270-901, Brasil
Eduardo H.M. Nunes*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Engenharia Metalúrgica e de Materiais, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG 31270-901, Brasil
*
a)Address all correspondence to these authors. e-mail: [email protected]
b)e-mail: [email protected]
c)e-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

There is no agreement regarding which solvent is more suitable to obtain sol–gel–derived titania (TiO2) samples with an enhanced photocatalytic behavior. Furthermore, the solvent effect on the preparation of TiO2-RGO (reduced graphene oxide) nanocomposites has not been published yet and could be an attractive experimental strategy to modulate structure and properties. On the basis of these observations, TiO2-RGO nanocomposites were fabricated in this study. It was evaluated for the influence of using either isopropyl (IsoprOH) or ethyl (EtOH) alcohol on the textural and photocatalytic properties of the prepared materials. The use of IsoprOH led to samples with smaller crystallite size, narrower apparent band gap, smaller isoelectric point, larger adsorption capacity, and higher photocatalytic activity. In addition, the incorporation of RGO into TiO2 greatly improved the adsorption capacity and photocatalytic activity of the latter. However, the optimal loading of RGO to prepare composites with enhanced photocatalytic activities was 1 wt%. This finding can be related to the stacking of RGO sheets when concentrations above 1 wt% are used, which could prevent UV light to reach the TiO2 particles and also decrease the photocatalytic capacity of the composites. Moreover, materials with RGO concentration above 1 wt% could exhibit a highly negatively charged surface, which may decrease the separation of the generated electron–hole pairs and lead to faster recombination rates of charge carriers.

Keywords

titaniareduced graphene oxidesol–gelhydrothermalcatalytic
Type
Article
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 34 , Issue 23 , 16 December 2019 , pp. 3918 - 3930
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2019 

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