Synthesis of titanium dioxide-graphene nanocomposites (TiO 2 -G) by the hydrothermal method and their applications for removing heavy metal ions of cadmium(II), lead(II) and copper(II)

Abstract

In the current study, a simple one-step hydrothermal method for synthesis of titanium dioxide (TiO 2 )-graphene (G) nanocomposites with a various mass ratio TiO 2 -GO were presented [1, 2]. According to the results of the adsorption capacity of the nanocomposites for three metal ions (cadmium(II), lead(II) and copper(II)), TiO 2 -GO (1:1) nanocomposite was chosen as the effective adsorbent because of the TiO 2 -GO (1:1) nanocomposite inherited both features of GO and TiO 2. The morphology and crystal structure, electrochemical and optical properties of the TiO2 nanostructures and their nanocomposites were studied by Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, UV-Vis absorption spectra. The results of cyclic voltammetry and square wave anodic stripping voltammetry (SWASV) method results indicate that the TiO2 -G nanocomposites can be used as promising sorbent materials for the separation of heavy metal ions from aqueous solutions.