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Solvent effect on the structure and photocatalytic behavior of TiO2-RGO nanocomposites

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Abstract

There is no agreement regarding which solvent is more suitable to obtain sol–gel–derived titania (TiO2) samples with an enhanced photocatalytic behavior. Furthermore, the solvent effect on the preparation of TiO2-RGO (reduced graphene oxide) nanocomposites has not been published yet and could be an attractive experimental strategy to modulate structure and properties. On the basis of these observations, TiO2-RGO nanocomposites were fabricated in this study. It was evaluated for the influence of using either isopropyl (IsoprOH) or ethyl (EtOH) alcohol on the textural and photocatalytic properties of the prepared materials. The use of IsoprOH led to samples with smaller crystallite size, narrower apparent band gap, smaller isoelectric point, larger adsorption capacity, and higher photocatalytic activity. In addition, the incorporation of RGO into TiO2 greatly improved the adsorption capacity and photocatalytic activity of the latter. However, the optimal loading of RGO to prepare composites with enhanced photocatalytic activities was 1 wt%. This finding can be related to the stacking of RGO sheets when concentrations above 1 wt% are used, which could prevent UV light to reach the TiO2 particles and also decrease the photocatalytic capacity of the composites. Moreover, materials with RGO concentration above 1 wt% could exhibit a highly negatively charged surface, which may decrease the separation of the generated electron–hole pairs and lead to faster recombination rates of charge carriers.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the financial support from PRPq-UFMG (05-2016), CNPq (305013/2017-3 and 301423/2018-0), FAPEMIG (APQ-00792-17 and red-00102-16), and CAPES (PROEX). We acknowledge the support from UFMG Microscopy Center and INCT-Acqua. We also thank professors Rodrigo Oréfice, Leandro Soares, and Adriana França for the great support given to this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Engenharia Metalúrgica e de Materiais, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, 31270-901, Brasil

    Bruno S. Gonçalves, Lucas M. C. Silva & Eduardo H. M. Nunes

  2. Centro de Tecnologia em Nanomateriais e Grafeno (CTNano), Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, 31270-901, Brasil

    Tarcizo C. C. de Souza, Vinícius G. de Castro & Glaura G. Silva

  3. Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, 31270-901, Brasil

    Glaura G. Silva

  4. Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, 31270-901, Brasil

    Bruno C. Silva & Klaus Krambrock

  5. Departamento de Engenharia Química, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, 31270-901, Brasil

    Renata B. Soares & Vanessa F. C. Lins

  6. Departamento de Engenharia de Materiais e Construção, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, 31270-901, Brasil

    Manuel Houmard

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  1. Bruno S. Gonçalves
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  2. Lucas M. C. Silva
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  3. Tarcizo C. C. de Souza
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  6. Bruno C. Silva
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  10. Manuel Houmard
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  11. Eduardo H. M. Nunes
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Gonçalves, B.S., Silva, L.M.C., de Souza, T.C.C. et al. Solvent effect on the structure and photocatalytic behavior of TiO2-RGO nanocomposites. Journal of Materials Research 34, 3918–3930 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2019.342

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