Titanium dioxide/graphene oxide composites were prepared using a simple colloidal blending method.
Superior adsorption and photocatalysis performance under both UV and visible radiation were achieved
in the presence of the composites rather than in pure TiO2. Gradually increasing the content of graphene
oxide up to 10 wt% promoted the removal efficiency and correspondingly, facilitated the photodegradation
rate of methylene blue. The good photocatalytic performance on the TiO2–graphene oxide composite
systems irrespective of light sources could be attributed to a synergy effects including the increase
in specific surface area with graphene oxide amount as well as the formation of both – conjugations
between dye molecules and aromatic rings and the ionic interactions between methylene blue
and oxygen-containing functional groups at the edges or on the surfaces of carbon-based nanosheets.
Graphene oxide worked as the adsorbent, electron acceptor and photosensitizer to efficiently enhance
the dye photodecomposition.