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Efficient Degradation of Methylene Blue by the Nano TiO2-functionalized Graphene Oxide Nanocomposite Photocatalyst for Wastewater Treatment

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Abstract

Herein, an efficient nano TiO2-functionalized graphene oxide nanocomposite photocatalyst was readily prepared, using an ordinary solvothermal technique. It was noted that the as-prepared nanocomposite yielded a quadruple degradation capacity of the previously reported P25-graphene composite photocatalyst towards methylene blue (MB). To elucidate this, the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET)-specific surface area, conductivity, and water contact angle measurements were all carried out. It was found out that graphene oxide was endowed with nontrivial photocatalytic activity by increasing its content in the nanocomposite (from 1/100 to 1/9, with respect to the dosage of nano TiO2). Overall, the nano TiO2-functionalized graphene oxide nanocomposite is a promising candidate in applications of environment remediation.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the National Science and Technology Support Plan (2013BAC01B03), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (B5141070) and the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (2015A030310369).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering, South China University of Technology, Wushan Rd., Tianhe District, Guangzhou, 510640, China

    Ruibin Wang, Rendang Yang, Bin Wang & Wenhua Gao

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  1. Ruibin Wang
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  2. Rendang Yang
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  3. Bin Wang
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  4. Wenhua Gao
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Correspondence to Bin Wang.

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Wang, R., Yang, R., Wang, B. et al. Efficient Degradation of Methylene Blue by the Nano TiO2-functionalized Graphene Oxide Nanocomposite Photocatalyst for Wastewater Treatment. Water Air Soil Pollut 227, 2 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-015-2720-z

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