One-Pot Synthesis of TiO2-rGO Photocatalysts for the Degradation of Groundwater Pollutants

A non-conventional approach to prepare titanium dioxide-reduced graphene oxide (TiO2-rGO) nanocomposites based on solar photoreduction is here presented. The standard hydro-sol-vothermal synthesis of the TiO2-rGO composites requires high temperatures and several steps, whereas the proposed one-pot preparation allows one to obtain the photocatalysts with a simple and green procedure, by exploiting the photocatalytic properties of titania activated by the solar irradiation. The TiO2-rGO catalysts were tested in the solar photodegradation of a widely adopted toxic herbicide (2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, 2,4-D), obtaining the 97% of degradation after 3 h of irradiation. The as-prepared TiO2-rGO composites were more active compared to the same pho-tocatalysts prepared through the conventional thermal route. The structural, optical, and textural properties of the composites, determined by Raman, Photoluminescence, Fourier Transform InfraRed (FTIR), UV-vis diffuse reflectance (DRS) spectroscopies, and N2 absorption-desorption meas-urements, showed as the solar irradiation favors the reduction of graphene oxide with higher efficiency compared to the thermal-driven synthesis. Furthermore, the possible toxicity of the as-syn-thesized composites was measured exposing nauplii of microcrustacean Artemia sp. to solutions containing TiO2-rGO. The good results in the 2,4-D degradation process and the easiness of the TiO2-rGO synthesis allow to consider the proposed approach a promising strategy to obtain performing photocatalysts.