Low cost synthesis and photocatalytic study of TiO2-graphite nanocomposite

In this paper, we have successfully fabricated TiO2-graphite nanocomposite via a simple sol-gel method. The XRD patterns indicate the presence of anatase TiO2 and the presence of graphite plane (002) in the TiO2-graphite nanocomposite. TiO2-graphite nanocomposite has been observed by HR-TEM with a size of 2-10 nm. Raman analysis clearly shows the extent of the disorder and the relationship between the sp(2) and sp(3) carbon atoms. The presence of the graphite is revealed in the DRS spectrum by the uniform absorption in the 440-800 nm which is the same for a null band gap energy compound. Microspheres of different sizes and a rough surface with clear graphite sheets make up composite material according to FE-SEM images. Ti, C, and O appear to be the only peaks in the EDS result, indicating that the composite obtained through this process is of high purity. The photocatalytic activity of the hybrid TiO2-graphite nanocomposite seems to be higher than of pristine TiO2 for the degradation of MO dye under UV light which degraded 98% of MO within 120 min. These results suggest that the prepared TiO2-graphite nanocomposite exhibits the characteristics of a highly effective photocatalytic activity which governs environmental pollution.