TY - JOUR
T1 - Transparent graphene quantum dot/amorphous TiO2 nanocomposite sol as homogeneous-like photocatalyst
AU - Thaweechai, Thammanoon
AU - Sirisaksoontorn, Weekit
AU - Poo-arporn, Yingyot
AU - Chanlek, Narong
AU - Seraphin, Supapan
AU - Thachepan, Surachai
AU - Poo-arporn, Rungtiva P.
AU - Suramitr, Songwut
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.
PY - 2021/10
Y1 - 2021/10
N2 - The transparent nanocomposite sol of graphene quantum dot and amorphous TiO2 (GQD/a-TiO2) was successfully synthesized and used as a homogeneous-like photocatalyst in degradation of rhodamine B (RhB). Analysis of GQD/a-TiO2 structure suggested that the existence of surface functional groups decorated on the GQD sheets played a vital role in anchoring a-TiO2 by chemical interaction and avoiding sol transformation during photocatalytic water treatment. The spectroscopic results and computational calculations indicated that the nanostructural interactions between GQD and a-TiO2 through Ti–O-C bonds had a significant impact on determining optical and electronic properties of the nanocomposite sol. It was found that GQD with smaller size provided the greater extent of interactions with a-TiO2 at nanoscopic level, resulting in narrowing of the band gap energy in GQD/a-TiO2 nanocomposite in comparison with a-TiO2. For photocatalytic study, the GQD/a-TiO2 sol catalyst could be applied for the degradation of RhB under indoor and outdoor natural light. The photocatalytic enhancement of the sol catalyst was considered as a result of the band gap narrowing and the synergistic effects of band attachment in the nanocomposite. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]
AB - The transparent nanocomposite sol of graphene quantum dot and amorphous TiO2 (GQD/a-TiO2) was successfully synthesized and used as a homogeneous-like photocatalyst in degradation of rhodamine B (RhB). Analysis of GQD/a-TiO2 structure suggested that the existence of surface functional groups decorated on the GQD sheets played a vital role in anchoring a-TiO2 by chemical interaction and avoiding sol transformation during photocatalytic water treatment. The spectroscopic results and computational calculations indicated that the nanostructural interactions between GQD and a-TiO2 through Ti–O-C bonds had a significant impact on determining optical and electronic properties of the nanocomposite sol. It was found that GQD with smaller size provided the greater extent of interactions with a-TiO2 at nanoscopic level, resulting in narrowing of the band gap energy in GQD/a-TiO2 nanocomposite in comparison with a-TiO2. For photocatalytic study, the GQD/a-TiO2 sol catalyst could be applied for the degradation of RhB under indoor and outdoor natural light. The photocatalytic enhancement of the sol catalyst was considered as a result of the band gap narrowing and the synergistic effects of band attachment in the nanocomposite. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]
KW - Amorphous TiO
KW - Band gap narrowing
KW - Graphene quantum dot
KW - Nanocomposite sol
KW - Nanostructured catalyst
KW - Synergistic effects
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U2 - 10.1007/s11051-021-05338-7
DO - 10.1007/s11051-021-05338-7
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85117349443
SN - 1388-0764
VL - 23
JO - Journal of Nanoparticle Research
JF - Journal of Nanoparticle Research
IS - 10
M1 - 225
ER -