ABSTRACT
In this work, nanocomposites based on titanium dioxide and reduced graphene oxide (TiO2@rGO) with different weight percentages of rGO (4, 8, and 16 wt%) were prepared by the hydrothermal/solvothermal synthesis method and thermally treated at 300 °C. The prepared nanocomposites were explored for the removal of methylene blue dye (MB) in the presence of simulated solar illumination as well as natural sunlight. The structural, morphological, chemical, and optical properties of the as-synthesized TiO2@rGO nanocomposites were characterized. The obtained results of the graphene-based nanocomposite materials indicated the existence of interactions between TiO2 and rGO, i.e., the Ti-O-C bond, which confirmed the successful integration of both components to form the TiO2@rGO nanocomposites. The addition of rGO increased the specific surface area, decreased the band gap energy, and increased the photocatalytic degradation efficiency of MB from water compared to TiO2 nanoparticles. The results of photocatalytic activity indicated that the amount of rGO in the prepared TiO2@rGO nanocomposites played a significant role in the application of different photocatalytic parameters, including the initial dye concentration, catalyst concentration, water environment, and illumination source. Our studies show that the reinforcement of the nanocomposite with 8 wt% of rGO allowed us to obtain the maximum photocatalytic decomposition performance of MB (10 mg·L-1) with a removal percentage of 99.20 after 2 h. Additionally, the obtained results show that the prepared TiO2@rGO_8 wt% nanocomposite can be used in three consecutive cycles while maintaining photocatalytic activity over 90%.