Synthesis and characterization of TiO(2)/graphene oxide nanocomposites for photoreduction of heavy metal ions in reverse osmosis concentrate

In this study, graphene oxide (GO), titanium dioxide (TiO(2)) and TiO(2)/GO nanocomposites were synthesized as the catalysts for photoreduction of endocrine disrupting heavy metal ions in reverse osmosis concentrates (ROC). The morphology, structure and chemical composition of these catalysts were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller analysis, Barrett–Joyner–Halenda, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The photocatalytic experiments showed that TiO(2)/GO nanocomposites exhibit a higher photoreduction performance than pure TiO(2) and GO. Under the optimal conditions, the removal rates of Cd(2+) and Pb(2+) can reach 66.32 and 88.96%, respectively, confirming the effectiveness of photoreduction to reduce the endocrine disrupting heavy metal ions in ROC resulted from the combined adsorption–reduction with TiO(2)/GO nanocomposites.