Hydrothermal preparation of B–TiO2-graphene oxide ternary nanocomposite, characterization and photocatalytic degradation of bisphenol A under simulated solar irradiation

Boron-doped TiO2 decorated on graphene oxide photocatalysts (denoted as GO@B–TiO2) were prepared for the effective photocatalytic treatment of bisphenol A (BPA) from water under simulated solar light. To prepare GO@B–TiO2 nanocomposites, B–TiO2 was initially synthesized via a sol-gel procedure and subsequently decorated on graphene oxide at 70 °C, by a facile hydrothermal method. Characterization results show that B–TiO2 particles are anchored on the surface of graphene oxide successfully. Their photocatalytic efficiency could also be adjusted by changing the ratios between B–TiO2 and GO. The optimum GO loading is 2 wt%, at which GO@B–TiO2 nanocomposite photocatalyst could achieve the best BPA degradation percentage of 47.66% compared with B–TiO2 materials (18.78%) after 240 min of solar irradiation. The dominant reactive oxygen species (ROS) formed during the photocatalytic abatement of BPA were determined to be O2.- and .OH. The presence of carbonate and chloride induced moderate inhibitory effect on GO@B–TiO2 (2 wt% GO), while bicarbonate and nitrate displayed only minor effect towards photocatalytic degradation of BPA. Based on these results, the as-prepared nanocomposites may be used as efficient and promising photocatalysts in secondary treatments to degrade recalcitrant contaminants in water exploiting the visible-light region of the full solar spectrum.