The efficient visible-light active nanocomposites of {001} facets-exposed TiO2-reduced graphene oxide (RGO) were fabricated by a simple one-step solvothermal approach for application in photocatalytic degradation. The morphology, structure and optical properties of the nanocomposites were well characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The results indicated that the TiO2 nanoflakes with exposed {001} facets were well-dispersed and contact closely with the surface of graphene sheets via the formation of Ti-O-C bonds. The percentage of the {001} facets which have higher chemistry activity in anatase TiO2 was about 71.3%. The incorporation of RGO with TiO2 increased the light absorption in the whole visible region and displayed a red-shift absorption edge, accelerated the separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs, furthermore, effectively enhanced the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 under the visible light. The efficiency of the system was significantly influenced by the content of RGO. The optimum content of RGO was 5 wt% for the maximum photocatalytic efficiency.
An adsorption-assembly sol-gel polymerization between graphene oxide (GO) sheets and resorcinol-formaldehyde aqueous solution was investigated as a method to form graphene composite carbon aerogels (GCAs) with cross-linked nanosheet structure and a surface area as high as 489 m2/g. By adjusting the amount of GO and the catalyst of hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA) in the precursor mixture, aerogels with little drying shrinkage under ambient pressure condition could be obtained. Benefiting from the attendance of graphene oxide, the obtained GCAs showed a regular nanosheets structure with countless nano-size particles on the sheet surface, which is quite different from the conventional carbon aerogels. The electrochemical performance of the GCAs were evaluated, they displayed small internal resistance and outstanding electrochemical specific capacitance (131 F/g), as well as a stable cycle performance (no capacitance loss after 5000 cycles).
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