Preparation and Photocatalytic Activity of Quaternary GO/TiO2/Ag/AgCl Nanocomposites

Granbohm, Henrika; Kulmala, Kati; Iyer, Ajai; Ge, Yanling; Hannula, Simo-Pekka

Preparation and Photocatalytic Activity of Quaternary GO/TiO2/Ag/AgCl Nanocomposites

2017

Granbohm, Henrika | Kulmala, Kati | Iyer, Ajai | Ge, Yanling | Hannula, Simo-Pekka

A novel quaternary nanocomposites consisting of Ag/AgCl decorated TiO₂ introduced on graphene oxide (GO) sheets with high loading of GO (50 wt.%) were prepared for photocatalytic application. The composite powders were synthesized by a facile sol–gel method utilizing polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as a reducing agent to obtain Ag particles and a modified Hummers’ method to acquire GO sheets. The influence of reducing agent concentration and type of TiO₂ was investigated. The adsorption properties of the GO/TiO₂/Ag/AgCl nanocomposites were examined, and photocatalytic activity was investigated under UV light applying methylene blue (MB) as a model pollutant. The composites displayed great adsorption capability up to 112.6 mgg⁻¹ due to GO. It is shown that the GO/TiO₂/Ag/AgCl samples prepared by Degussa P25 TiO₂ and with a reduced amount of PVP have the best photocatalytic activity, reaching up to 55% decolorization of methylene blue under UV light. The photocatalytic activity is enhanced by approximately 80% with the addition of GO to the quaternary GO/TiO₂/Ag/AgCl composites.

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