Controllable synthesis of graphene-based titanium dioxide nanocomposites by atomic layer deposition

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) was used to synthesize graphene-based metal oxide nanocomposites. This strategy was fulfilled on the preparation of TiO(2)-graphene nanosheet (TiO(2)-GNS) nanocomposites using titanium isopropoxide and water as precursors. The synthesized nanocomposites demonstrated that ALD exhibited many benefits in a controllable means. It was found that the as-deposited TiO(2) was tunable not only in its morphologies but also in its structural phases. As for the former, TiO(2) was transferable from nanoparticles to nanofilms with increased cycles. With regard to the latter, TiO(2) was changeable from amorphous to crystalline phase, and even a mixture of the two with increased growth temperatures (up to 250 °C). The underlying growth mechanisms were discussed and the resultant TiO(2)-GNS nanocomposites have great potentials for many applications, such as photocatalysis, lithium-ion batteries, fuel cells, and sensors.