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Enhanced photocatalytic activity of TiO2/graphene by tailoring oxidation degrees of graphene oxide for gaseous mercury removal

  • Materials (Organic, Inorganic, Electronic, Thin Films)
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Abstract

We used a simple method of graphene oxide (GO) preparation with different oxidation levels, and control the properties of the TiO2 nanocrystals by tuning the content and oxidation degree of GO to enhance the photocatalytic performance. During the hydrothermal reaction, reduction of GO, formation of TiO2 and chemical bonds between TiO2 and reduced graphene oxide (RGO) was achieved simultaneously. Characterization results showed that TiO2 properties such as crystalline grain and particle size could be tailored by the amount of functional groups, and that crystallinity was also controlled by GO degrees of oxidation. TiO2/RGO photocatalysts showed great efficiency of mercury oxidation, which reached 83.7% and 43.6% under UV and LED light irradiation, respectively. The effects of crystalline grain size and surface chemical properties on Hg0 removal under LED and UV light irradiation were analyzed. In addition, the properties of the photocatalysts before and after UV illumination were investigated, finding that part of Ti-OH on TiO2 surface transformed to Ti-O-Ti. In a nutshell, this work could provide a new insight into enhancing activity of photocatalysts and understanding the photocatalytic mechanism.

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Author notes

  1. Yu Guan and Tao Hu contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Energy and Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai University of Electric Power, Shanghai, 200090, China

    Yu Guan, Tao Hu, Jiang Wu, Lili Zhao, Weiguo Pan, Ping He, Xuemei Qi, Fangqin Li & Kai Xu

  2. Huadian Weifang Power Generation Co., Ltd., Weifang, 261000, China

    Tao Hu

  3. College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai, 202620, China

    Fengguo Tian

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  1. Yu Guan
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  2. Tao Hu
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Correspondence to Jiang Wu, Lili Zhao or Fengguo Tian.

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Guan, Y., Hu, T., Wu, J. et al. Enhanced photocatalytic activity of TiO2/graphene by tailoring oxidation degrees of graphene oxide for gaseous mercury removal. Korean J. Chem. Eng. 36, 115–125 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11814-018-0148-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11814-018-0148-z

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