Ultra-bright emission from Sr doped TiO2 nanoparticles through r-GO conjugation

Graphene and semiconductor nanocomposite garnered much interest in nanoscience and nanotechnology. In this research, TiO2, TiO2: Sr and TiO2: Sr/r-GO (reduced graphene oxide) nanocomposites have been successfully synthesized via a wet chemical synthesis method. The microscopic studies confirmed the formation of graphene sheets which looked like a paper which could easily wrap over the bacterial surface killing them. The optical band gap of these nanocomposites is determined by UV–visible absorption spectra which inferred that optical band gap decreases with Sr2+ incorporation and r-GO attachment. Furthermore, photoluminescence (PL) study revealed that the intensity of emission is prominent for TiO2: Sr/r-GO. The enhancement in PL intensity with r-GO is due to creation of more oxygen vacancies and defects which generally capture the photoinduced carriers inhibiting recombination rate of free carriers promoting the photocatalytic reactions.