Sonochemical synthesis of Graphene-Ce-TiO and Graphene-Fe-TiO ternary hybrid photocatalyst nanocomposite and its application in degradation of crystal violet dye.

The present work deals with the preparation of graphene oxide (GO) using Hummers-Offeman method in the presence of ultrasonic irradiations. Further loading of TiO photocatalyst on prepared GO was accomplished which is basically oxidation reduction reaction between graphene oxide and titanium isopropoxide that leads to the formation of graphene-TiO nanocomposite. Graphene-Ce-TiO and Graphene-Fe-TiO nanocomposites were prepared using one step in-situ ultrasound assisted method using GO, titanium isopropoxide, cerium nitrate, ferric nitrate, and 2-propanol. The successfully prepared graphene-TiO, Graphene-Ce-TiO, Graphene-Fe-TiO nanocomposites were then characterized using XRD, SEM and TEM analysis. The obtained XRD patterns clearly indicates the formation of anatase TiO on graphene nanosheets and it also indicates the presence of Ce and Fe in the Graphene-Ce-TiO and Graphene-Fe-TiO nanocomposite respectively. Further the use of the prepared nanocomposites as a photocatalyst have been studied for the degradation of crystal violet dye. The effect of various parameters such as catalyst doping, catalyst loading and initial concentration of dye on its degradation were studied. The effectiveness of the prepared catalysts were compared for the degradation of crystal violet dye. It has been observed that Graphene-Fe-TiO exhibits maximum photocatalytic activity compared to Graphene-Ce-TiO and Graphene-TiO nanocomposite photocatalyst.