Résumé
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•TiO2-RGO nanocomposites presented, in all the cases studied, improved photocatalytic properties compared to bare TiO2.•An optimal composition, in terms of TiO2/RGO ratio was found in both series nanocomposites.•Nanocomposites of sol-gel method presented improved textural properties than those of hydrothermal method.•Optimization in the preparation, needed to obtain materials with finer properties for effective application in environmental.
In this study, two different preparation methods of titanium dioxide nanoparticles/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites were investigated using direct sol-gel method followed by hydrothermal treatment or simple hydrothermal route. A different amount of graphene (1- 20%) was mixed with TiO2 for both series of samples in order to improve the photocatalytic activity. The influence of the preparation method on the physico-chemical properties was established by different characterization methods and the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) under UV light irradiation was used as test reaction. The highest photocatalytic activity was observed for the nanocomposites containing 10wt% of graphene. The elimination of MB can reach 93% and 82% for the nanocomposites with 10wt% graphene prepared by the sol-gel and hydrothermal methods, respectively. These photocatalysts are promising for practical application in nanotechnology.