Abstract
In this study, nickel sulfide-reduced graphene oxide-titanium dioxide (NiS/RGO/TiO2) nanocomposite was synthesized by the hydrothermal method. Different tools such as scanning electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and photoluminescence spectroscopy were used to characterize the prepared nanocomposite. The application of NiS/RGO/TiO2 nanocomposite was investigated for the degradation of trichlorophenol (TCP) under solar light irradiation. Results showed that the coupling of nickel sulfide and reduced graphene oxide with titanium dioxide has significantly enhanced the photocatalytic activity where the degradation of TCP reached 95% after 6 h under sunlight radiations. The total organic carbon was reduced to 4 mg L-1 from its initial concentration (11 mg L-1), which showed that up to 55% of organic carbon mineralization was successfully achieved. In general, the study revealed an efficient photocatalytic capability of NiS/RGO/TiO2 nanocomposite under visible light.