Applied Surface Science, Vol.437, 441-450, 2018
Synthesis and characterization of TiO2/graphitic carbon nanocomposites with enhanced photocatalytic performance
In this paper titanium dioxide carbon modification with benzene as a carbon source is presented. A TiO2/graphitic carbon nanocomposites were synthesized by thermal modification in the presence of benzene vapours at different temperature (300-700 degrees C). The new materials were characterized by a various techniques, such as: X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-vis/DR), surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy. BET specific surface area was also measured. The photocatalytic activity of obtained nanocomposites was measured by the decomposition of acetic acid and methylene blue under UV-vis irradiation. The results show that photocatalytic activity increasing with increase in carbon concentration and temperature of modification. It can be noted that adsorption degree has a very high impact on methylene blue decomposition. The highest photocatalytic activity was found for the photocatalyst modified at 600 degrees C contains 1.13 wt% of carbon. It should be noted that, the influence of crystallite size, crystal structure changes and specific surface area for photocatalytic activity are presented. (c) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords:TiO2;Photocatalysis;Benzene;Graphitic carbon;Adsorption;Acetic acid decomposition;Methylene blue decomposition;UV-vis light