Glucosamine-induced growth of highly distributed TiO2 nanoparticles on graphene nanosheets as high-performance photocatalysts

Here, a composite composed of ultrasmall TiO2 nanoparticles and reduced graphene nanosheets (RGO) has been intelligently designed by a facile glucosamine-assisted hydrothermal strategy in alkaline conditions. The experimental results indicate that the induction of glucosamine plays a vital role in the formation of the desirable TiO2@graphene products, which can effectively regulate the growth and dispersity of TiO2 nanoparticles on the graphene backbone. Consequently, highly dispersed TiO2 nanoparticles with an average diameter of about 13 nm are firmly anchored on graphene. Importantly, the achieved products possess a large surface area of 238.0 m(2) g(-1), good thermal stability, and high crystallinity along with the increase of calcination temperatures. In particular, the TiO2@graphene obtained through thermal treatment at 700 degrees C exhibits better photocatalytic activity for photodegradation of methyl orange (MO) than those produced at other calcination temperatures, and it also has a good photocatalytic ability for degrading rhodamine B (RhB) and methyl blue (MB).