Electrochemical synthesis of TiO2/Graphene oxide composite films for photocatalytic applications

Abstract This paper presents a novel TiO 2 -Graphene composite film one-step preparation method by electrochemical synthesis. The films were prepared on a Ti substrate by electrochemical deposition from a GO and Ti (IV) aqueous solution. For comparison, pure TiO 2 on a Ti substrate was obtained by the same electrochemical method. The as-prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, photoluminescence and ultraviolet–visible spectrophotometry. The photocatalytic properties of the films were investigated for the discoloration of Reactive Yellow 145 dye. The results showed that the TiO 2 -Graphene oxide composite film presented photocatalytic activity almost twice as high as that observed for the TiO 2 film. In addition, the TiO 2 -Graphene oxide composite film presented better stability and recyclability, retaining its catalytic efficiency (≈70%) even after 15 cycles.