Optical and Electrical Properties of TiO₂-GO Nanostructures by Ball-Milling

Mechanosynthesis, particularly through high-energy ball milling, offers a potent method for the fabrication of nanohybrids. This study explores the characterization of TiO<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> and graphene oxide (GO) nanohybrids, focusing on their optical and electrical properties, as well as their photocatalytic performance. Optical measurements showed a reduction in the bandgap from ≈3.27 eV in pristine TiO<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> to ≈3.02 eV in milled TiO<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf>, while electrical conductivity increased from 5.59 × 10<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-9</sup> to 2.48 × 10<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-8</sup> S/cm. Despite these improvements, the addition of GO did not significantly impact the bandgap or electrical properties of the nanohybrids. Photocatalytic experiments using methylene blue (MB) under visible light irradiation demonstrated a dye degradation of ≈30-32% in all hybrid samples, indicating consistent photocatalytic activity regardless of GO oxidation degrees.