The high photocatalytic activity of nitrogen doped and {001} facets dominated anatase nanoslice and amido-grafted graphene oxide nanocomposite with armor structure

Abstract Reducing the high recombination rate and the band gap of titania is vital and valuable for improving its photocatalytic activity. Herein, anatase (A) nanoslice and amido-grafted graphene oxide (AGO) nanocomposite with an armor structure were designed and prepared by a solvothermal method, in which the formation of the armor structure and nitrogen (N) doping into A nanoslice were carried out in one-pot successfully. The characterization results of the nanocomposites show that N doped A nanoslices with an average size of 7.8 nm and dominant {001} facets are distributed uniformly on the surface of AGO. The photocatalytic activity of the AGO-A nanocomposite is significantly enhanced by the combination of A nanoslice with AGO. Typically, the reaction rate constant of the nanocomposite is 3.34 times higher than that of A nanoslice. These can be ascribed to the synergistic effects among the armor structure, A nanoslice with dominant {001} facets, enhanced adsorption ability by AGO, N doped A nanoslice and excited electron transfer from A nanoslice to AGO. Furthermore, a mechanism on the enhancement of the photocatalytic activity of the nanocomposite is proposed. These provide new insights for designing and preparing the nanocomposite photocatalysts with novel structure and enhanced activity.