Graphene/TiO2 nanocomposites: synthesis, characterization and application in hydrogen evolution from water photocatalytic splitting

A series of titanium dioxide and graphene sheets (GSs) composites were synthesized with a sol–gel method using tetrabutyl titanate and graphite oxide (GO) as the starting materials. The obtained TiO2/GSs photocatalysts are characterized by X-ray diffraction, N2 adsorption analysis, Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activity of the as-prepared samples was evaluated by hydrogen evolution from water photo-splitting under UV-vis illumination. The influence of GSs content and calcinations atmosphere on the photocatalytic activity was also investigated. The results show that both…