Highly Visible Light Photodegradation of RhB as Synthetic Organic Dye Pollutant Over TiO2-Modified Reduced Graphene Oxide

• DOI: 10.1007/s10904-021-02102-1
• Publication Date: 2021-09-12T14:04:01Z
• Authors: Rahmat Hidayat; Sayekti Wahyuningsih; Ganjar Fadillah; Ari Handono Ramelan
• Keywords: Photodegradation; Rhodamine B; Thermogravimetric analysis; Visible spectrum

TiO2-modified reduced graphene oxide (TiO2-rGO) has been prepared in a simple one-process step synthesis via the hydrothermal method. The TiO2-rGO was studied to improve the photodegradation performance of rhodamine-B (RhB) as synthetic organic dye pollutants. The influence of rGO on TiO2 nanoparticles was investigated using Fourier Transform Infrared, X-ray diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscope, Surface Area Analyzer, Thermogravimetric Analysis/Differential Thermal Analysis, and Spectroscopy UV–Vis. A batch system tested the photodegradation performance of RhB solution under 300 W visible light irradiation. Our results confirmed that the presence of rGO in TiO2 nanostructures could improve the specific surface area until 248.58 m2 g−1 and enhanced the photodegradation efficiency until 70.66% under visible light irradiation. The photocatalyst stability was evaluated for five cycles experiment, and the performances decreased to 6.58%. However, these results presented that the developed TiO2-rGO material has a potential for further photodegradation of organic dye in environment.