Chinese Journal of Catalysis ›› 2013, Vol. 34 ›› Issue (8): 1527-1533.DOI: 10.1016/S1872-2067(12)60611-1

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Enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity of Ag2S-graphene/TiO2 nanocomposites made by sonochemical synthesis

Ze-Da Meng, Lei Zhu, Kefayat Ullah, Shu Ye, Qian Sun, Won-Chun Oh   

  1. Department of Advanced Materials Science and Engineering, Hanseo University, Chungnam 356-706, Korea
  • Received:2013-03-30 Revised:2013-05-02 Online:2013-08-16 Published:2013-07-30
  • Supported by:

    This work was supported by Research Foundation from Hanseo University in 2012. The authors are grateful to the staff at the University for the financial support.

Abstract: Ag2S-graphene/TiO2 composites were synthesized by a facile sonochemical method. The products were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectrophotometry. During the synthesis reaction, the reduction of graphene oxide and loading of Ag2S and TiO2 particles were achieved. The Ag2S-graphene/TiO2 composites possessed a large adsorption capacity for dyes, an extended light absorption range, and efficient charge separation properties. Hence, in the photodegradation of rhodamine B, a significant enhancement in the reaction rate was observed with the Ag2S-graphene/TiO2 composites as compared to pure TiO2. The generation of reactive oxygen species was detected by the oxidation of 1,5-diphenyl carbazide to 1,5-diphenyl carbazone. The high activity was attributed to the synergetic effects of high charge mobility and the red shift in the absorption edge of the Ag2S-graphene/TiO2 composites.

Key words: Silver sulfide, Graphene, Titanium dioxide, UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy, Visible light, Rhodamine B