TiO 2 / N -graphene nanocomposite via a facile in-situ hydrothermal sol–gel strategy for visible light photodegradation of eosin Y

Highlights: • TiO{sub 2}/N-graphene is synthesized via in-situ hydrothermal sol–gel strategy. • TiO{sub 2} nanoparticles are chemically anchored on N-graphene nanosheets. • The band gap of TiO{sub 2}/N-graphene is red-shifted from neat TiO{sub 2} nanoparticles. • 5-NGT nanocomposite has the best visible light photodegradation performance. - Abstract: TiO{sub 2}/N-graphene nanocomposites are synthesized via a facile in-situ hydrothermal sol–gel strategy in order to improve the photocatalytic efficiency for pollutant photodegradation under visible light irradiation. The as-prepared nanocomposites are respectively characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. Results indicated that neat TiO{sub 2} nanoparticles have an average diameter about 6.70 nm while TiO{sub 2} nanoparticles in TiO{sub 2}/N-graphene nanocomposites synthesized through in-situ hydrothermal sol–gel strategy bear an average diameter of ∼1 nm and are anchored on N-graphene nanosheets via chemical bonding. Both neat TiO{sub 2} nanoparticles and chemically anchored TiO{sub 2} nanoparticles in TiO{sub 2}/N-graphene nanocomposites take on the crystal type of anatase. The band gap of TiO{sub 2}/N-graphene nanocomposites is red-shifted compared with neat TiO{sub 2} nanoparticles. The evaluation of photodegradation performance under visible light irradiation suggested that the nanocomposite with 5 wt% N-graphene content has the best visible lightmore » photodegradation performance.« less