Visible light driven photodegradation of quinoline over TiO2/graphene oxide nanocomposites

[Display omitted] •Visible light responsive TiO2/graphene oxide composites (TGO) were synthesized.•Graphene oxide contributed to visible light responsive property.•Easy photogenerated electron-hole separation is achieved in TGO photocatalysis.•TGO possessed 5.17 times higher photocatalytic activity than P25.•TGO could be reused without activity loss. Visible light responsive titanium dioxide/graphene oxide composites (TGO) were synthesized via electrostatic attraction at a low temperature of 80°C. A superior visible light driven photocatalytic degradation of quinoline for TGO was achieved (75.56%), which was 6.17 times as high as that of P25 under the same reaction condition. The recycling experiment showed that 93.32% photocatalytic activity was remained after four cycles of repetitive uses. The excellent visible light driven photocatalytic activity and recycle stability could be attributed to the extending optical absorption edge and easy photogenerated electron-hole separation by trapping the electrons generated from titanium dioxide in the presence of graphene oxide. A tentative mechanism was postulated for the photodegradation of quinoline over TGO.