Preparation and photocatalytic properties of dye-sensitization titanium dioxide/graphene composites for removal of MB

In this study, titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) and graphene oxide (GO) were used to make a titanium dioxide/reduced graphene oxide (TG) composite under hydrothermal condition, and the TG composite was subsequently dye-sensitization (DTG). TEM, XRD, Raman, XPS, and UV–vis DRS spectroscopy were used to examine the structure and morphology of DTG, and the results revealed that the grafting rate of dye molecules on TG was approximately 20.4% and the band-gap value for TiO 2 , TG and DTG were 3.21, 3.03, 2.57 eV, respectively. The photocatalytic performances of DTG, TG, and TiO 2 were investigated under the illumination of a xenon lamp, and it was discovered that the final removal rates of MB by TiO 2 and TG were only 21.53% and 50.37%, but DTG can remove 97.67% of MB, the COD value of the effluent decreased by 88.24%. Furthermore, the elimination rate of MB maintained over 90% after 5 cycles of photocatalytic tests, indicating that DTG had good endurance.