TiO 2 −Graphene Nanocomposites for Gas-Phase Photocatalytic Degradation of Volatile Aromatic Pollutant: Is TiO 2 −Graphene Truly Different from Other TiO 2 −Carbon Composite Materials?

The nanocomposites of TiO(2)-graphene (TiO(2)-GR) have been prepared via a facile hydrothermal reaction of graphene oxide and TiO(2) in an ethanol-water solvent. We show that such a TiO(2)-GR nanocomposite exhibits much higher photocatalytic activity and stability than bare TiO(2) toward the gas-phase degradation of benzene, a volatile aromatic pollutant in air. By investigating the effect of different addition ratios of graphene on the photocatalytic activity of TiO(2)-GR systematically, we find that the higher weight ratio in TiO(2)-GR will decrease the photocatalytic activity. Analogous phenomenon is also observed for the liquid-phase degradation of dyes over TiO(2)-GR. In addition, the key features for…