Photoelectrochemical Activity of Graphene Supported Titanium Dioxide

Thin TiO2 layers grown over few-layers graphene were prepared in order to evaluate the photoinduced chemical response of this composite. Graphene was grown over copper foils by decomposition of acetylene in a standard chemical vapor deposition apparatus. Graphene was subsequently transferred to a silicon substrate, on which the titanium dioxide was grown to form a TiO2/FLG/SiO2/Si composite. The formation of each layered material was verified by Raman spectroscopy and the morphology was characterized by scanning electron microscopy. The photoelectrochemical evaluation of the resulting composite, using it as a photoanode, was accomplished with a potentiostat, a solar simulator, and a three-electrode configuration. The electrochemical response indicates that the new composite preserves the average photoactive properties of the base material and at the same time shows a singular transient response where explicit benefits seem to be derived from the FLG/TiO2 combination.