Characterization and mechanism analysis of graphite/C-doped TiO2 composite for enhanced photocatalytic performance

Graphite/C-doped TiO2 composite was synthesized through a modified sol–gel reaction. DRS results indicated that light absorbance edge of graphite/C-doped TiO2 was clearly red-shifted to visible light region by doping with C. SPS results displayed that separation efficiency of photoinduced charge carriers of graphite/C-doped TiO2 were greatly increased by coupling with graphite. Moreover, the photocatalytic performance of composite was evaluated by the degradation of methyl orange (MO). Results showed that graphite/C-doped TiO2 exhibited higher photocatalytic activity for MO than that of pristine TiO2 and P25, which was mainly attributed to the high crystallization, large surface hydroxyl groups, intense visible light absorption and effective separation of photoinduced charge carriers.