Self-assembling porous 3D titanium dioxide-reduced graphene oxide aerogel for the tunable absorption of oleic acid and RhodamineB dye

In this study, 3D titanium dioxide-reduced graphene oxide aerogels (TiO2-rGA) was synthesized by a modified hydrothermal treatment. Graphene is self-assembled into the 3D interconnected networks aerogel while TiO2 nanoparticles are uniformly and densely dispersed onto the graphene nanosheets. The as-obtained composite aerogels show a change of surface wettability from hydrophobic to hydrophilic depending on addition of incorporated TiO2. Absorption abilities of TiO2-rGA with different ratios of TiO2 for Oleic acid and RhodamineB (RhB) dye were tested. The result demonstrates that the composite aerogel with addition ratio of TiO2 can selectively absorb oleic acid floating on the water and RhB in aqueous systems. The resulting TiO2-rGA can be potentially applied in organic waste recovery.