Investigation of the Efficiency of Titanium Dioxide and Titanium dioxide/Graphene oxide Nanocomposites for Photocatalytic Dye Degradation Applications
Deepan Raj G, Nivetha Mathan, Nandhini Rajasekaran, S. P. Vijaya Chamundeeswari
Том 88 №3
17 просмотров;
This study investigates the synthesis and characterization of titanium dioxide/graphene oxide (TiO₂/GO) nanocomposites for their potential application in photocatalytic dye degradation. Titanium dioxide nanoparticles were synthesized via chemical co-precipitation, while graphene oxide was prepared using a modified Hummer’s method. TiO₂/GO nanocomposites with graphene oxide concentrations of 1.5 wt.% and 3 wt.% were fabricated by ultrasonification of distilled water solution of synthesized materials in respective ratios. The prepared samples were subjected to structural, optical, electronic, morphological, and functional group analyses. Results revealed that the TiO₂/GO (3 wt.%) nanocomposite exhibited the lowest optical bandgap of 3.13 eV compared to 3.28 and 3.24 eV of pure and 1.5 wt.% TiO2/GO, respectively. TiO2/GO (3 wt.%) also exhibited reduced photoluminescence intensity, indicative of enhanced photocatalytic activity. Under sunlight irradiation, the TiO₂/GO (3 wt.%) nanocomposite achieved an 81.91% degradation efficiency of Brilliant Blue R dye. This is a huge improvement, comparing this to the 65.26 and 77.04 % of pure and 1.5 wt.% TiO2/GO composite, respectively. This study highlights the promising potential of TiO₂/GO nanocomposites as efficient photocatalysts for environmental remediation applications.