Controllable synthesis of titania/reduced graphite oxide nanocomposites with various titania phase compositions and their photocatalytic performance

A facile method is presented for preparing TiO2/reduced graphite oxide (RGO) nanocomposites with phase-controlled TiO2 nanoparticles via redox reaction between the reductive titanium (III) precursor and graphite oxide (GO), and a series of TiO2/RGO composites with various TiO2 phase compositions were obtained. In all the titania/RGO composites, the TiO2 nanoparticles were uniformly distributed on the surface of the RGO. The TiO2 consisted of anatase phase particles in the form of square-plates with edges less than 10 nm and the rutile phase nanorods in diameters less than 10 nm. The performances of the as-prepared TiO2/RGO composites were investigated on catalytically degrading phenol under visible light irradiation. The TiO2/RGO composites can effectively degrade phenol under visible light irradiation, and the phase composition of TiO2 in the composites significantly influences the activities of these catalysts.