Glucosamine-induced growth of highly distributed TiO2 nanoparticles on graphene nanosheets as high-performance photocatalysts

Abstract

Here, a composite composed of ultrasmall TiO₂ nanoparticles and reduced graphene nanosheets (RGO) has been intelligently designed by a facile glucosamine-assisted hydrothermal strategy in alkaline conditions. The experimental results indicate that the induction of glucosamine plays a vital role in the formation of the desirable TiO₂@graphene products, which can effectively regulate the growth and dispersity of TiO₂ nanoparticles on the graphene backbone. Consequently, highly dispersed TiO₂ nanoparticles with an average diameter of about 13 nm are firmly anchored on graphene. Importantly, the achieved products possess a large surface area of 238.0 m² g⁻¹, good thermal stability, and high crystallinity along with the increase of calcination temperatures. In particular, the TiO₂@graphene obtained through thermal treatment at 700 °C exhibits better photocatalytic activity for photodegradation of methyl orange (MO) than those produced at other calcination temperatures, and it also has a good photocatalytic ability for degrading rhodamine B (RhB) and methyl blue (MB).