Nicholas Smith
Lucas Oborny
Chemical Identity and Applications of Graphene-Titanium Dioxide
Graphene is a single, two-dimensional nanosheet of aromatic sp2 hybridized carbons that
enhances the performance of photocatalysts.1 The most prominent graphene-based photocatalyst
is graphene oxide-TiO2 (GO/TiO2), the result of graphene oxide’s unpaired π electrons bonding
with titanium atoms on the surface of TiO2.2 Though TiO2 is a widely used and relativelyeffective photocatalyst on its own, combining it with graphene oxide (GO) greatly intensifies its
photocatalytic abilities. As a good electron collector and transporter, graphene is able to hinder
the recombination of photogenerated electron-hole pairs.1 This hindering is due to being
graphene a zero-gap two-dimensional semimetal with a small amount of overlap between its
valence and conductance bands, enabling charge carriers that behave as Dirac fermions to move
with little scattering under atmospheric conditions.3 Moreover, when TiO2 is bound to graphene
oxide, it increases the absorption of light and extends the light absorption range, which improves
the amount of solar energy obtained compared to TiO2 typical 3%-5% absorption.1 With these
improvements, GO/TiO2 is a greatly desired photocatalyst for its heightened ability for carbon
dioxide reduction, water oxidation, hydrogen synthesis, and the conversion of CO2 to methanol.4
The photocatalytic conversion of CO2 to hydrocarbons like methanol is potentially the most
important application of GO/TiO2.4 The conditions for this redox reaction to occur are quite
simple: ambient conditions, CO2 and water present, and light. As long as light is provided,
GO/TiO2 will continuously oxidize water and reduce CO2 (Scheme 1).4 The highlight of using
this photocatalyst is that it is non-toxic, relatively low cost, chemically stable, and readily
available.
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Nicholas Smith
Lucas Oborny
Scheme 1. Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction to Methanol and Water Oxidation
(1) Tu, W.; Zhou, Y.; Zou, Z. Versatile Graphene-Promoting Photocatalytic Performance of
Semiconductors: Basic Principles, Synthesis, Solar Energy Conversion, and
Environmental Applications. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2013, 23, 4996-5008.
(2) Xiang, Q.; Yu, J. Graphene-Based Photocatalysts for Hydrogen Generation. J. Phys. Chem.
Lett. 2013, 4, 753-759.
(3) Huang, X.; Qi, X.; Boey, F.; Zhang, H. Graphene-Based Composites. Chem. Soc. Rev. 2012,
41, 666-686.
(4) Hsu, H.; Shown, I.; Wei, H.; Chang, Y.; Du, H.; Lin,Y.; Tseng, C.; Wang, C.; Chen, L.; Lin,
Y.; Chen, K. Graphene Oxide as a Promising Photocatalyst for CO2 to Methanol
Conversion. RSC Adv. 2013, 5, 262-268.
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Nicholas Smith
Lucas Oborny
Preparation, Structure, and Function of Graphene Oxide/TiO2
A direct and simple method to combine graphene oxide (GO) with semiconductors would be
through the process known as solution mixing.5 TiO2 and GO nanocomposites can be prepared
using a simple colloidal blending method: sonication and stirring brings about the chemical
interaction between surface hydroxyl groups of TiO2 and functional groups of GO and leads to
the formation of Ti–O–C bonds in the nanocomposites.5 Electrostatic interaction is the driving
force behind this formation. The addition of the graphene oxide co-catalyst provides enhanced
activity for the photocurrent generated by TiO2 compared to pure TiO2.6 This allows for more
reactivity such as hydrogen production of carbon dioxide reduction.6 The composites also
showed an increase in the photoresponsive range of the TiO2.6 The concentration of graphene
oxide in starting solution helped to determine the photoelectronic and photocatalytic ability of
the GO/TiO2 composites (GOT).6 The design of the GOT is a three-dimensional contact
between the Graphene Oxide and the TiO2.7 It is important that the semiconductor species be
covered both densely and uniformly in order to maximizes the interaction between two
composites, which facilitates the charge separation and the reactivity of the photocatalyst.5,7
Scheme 2. Synthesis of Graphene Oxide/TiO2 Composites and Graphene Oxide Structure
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Nicholas Smith
Lucas Oborny
(5) Tu, W.; Zhou, Y.; Zou, Z. Versatile Graphene-Promoting Photocatalytic Performance of
Semiconductors: Basic Principles, Synthesis, Solar Energy Conversion, and
Environmental Applications. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2013, 23, 4996–5008.
(6) Chen, C.; Cai, W.; Long, M.; Zhou, B.; Wu, Y.; Wu, D.; Feng, Y. Synthesis of Visible-Light
Responsive Graphene Oxide/TiO2 Composites with p/n Heterojunction. J. Am. Chem.
Soc. 2012, 4, 6425-6432.
(7) Xiang, Q.; Yu, J. Graphene-Based Photocatalysts for Hydrogen Generation. J. Phys. Chem.
Lett. 2013, 4, 753−759.
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Nicholas Smith
Lucas Oborny
Spectroscopic Characterization of Graphene-Titanium Dioxide
The UV-Vis absorption spectrometer measured for various GOTs with different carbon
element contents (Figure 1).8 This showed how varying GOTs change the absorbance of
different light energy.8 Raman spectroscopy is a powerful tool to characterize the crystalline
quality of carbon. The Raman spectrum of GO (Figure 2) shows the presence of D, G, and 2D
bands at 1340, 1585, and 2701 cm−1, respectively. The G band is common to all sp2 carbon
forms and provides information on the in-plane vibration of sp2 bonded carbon atoms.8 Figure 3
shows the diffuse reflective spectra of GO/TiO2 samples with various amounts of GO (0-1
wt%).9 The absorption intensity increases as GO content is increased because GO/TiO2 absorbs
is able to absorb in the entire visible region with the presence of graphitic carbons.9 To
exemplify the enhanced effectiveness of graphene oxide combined with TiO2, Figure 4 shows
how GO/TiO2 has a much higher level of intensity range and will therefore be able to obtain
more solar energy and perform more effectively.9
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Nicholas Smith
Lucas Oborny
Figure 1. UV−vis absorption spectra of graphene oxide/TiO2 composites (GOT): carbon
element contents of GOT-A, GOT-B, GOT-C, GOT-D, and GOT-E are 0.14, 0.15, 0.13, 0.25,
and 0.51 wt %, respectively.8
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Nicholas Smith
Lucas Oborny
Figure 2. Raman spectra of (A) graphene oxide/TiO2 composites (GOT).8
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Nicholas Smith
Lucas Oborny
Figure 3. Diffuse reflectance UV/Visible spectra of GO (x wt%)/TiO2 composites (x = 0–1.0).
the inset shows the magnification of the absorption edge region.9
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Nicholas Smith
Lucas Oborny
Figure 4. Raman spectra of GO, TiO2 and GO (1 wt%)/TiO2 showing graphitic modes.
(8) Chen, C.; Cai, W.; Long, M.; Zhou, B.; Wu, Y.; Wu, D.; Feng, Y. Synthesis of Visible-Light
Responsive Graphene Oxide/TiO2 Composites with p/n Heterojunction. J. Am. Chem.
Soc. 2012, 4, 6425-6432.
(9) Park, Y.; Kang, S. H.; Choi, W. Exfoliated and reorganized graphite oxide on titania
nanoparticles as an auxiliary co-catalyst for photocatalytic solar conversion. Phys. Chem.
Chem. Phys. 2011, 13, 9425-9431.
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