Hybrid effect of TiO/sub 2/reduced graphene oxide based composite for photo-catalytic water splitting and strain sensing

Solar Energy is an everlasting source of energy with minimal carbon footprint. However, due to lack of reliability and consistency it needs to be converted into more reliable and effective means that can be used to provide energy on demand. Hydrogen is a promising carrier and is thus an efficient mean of energy to be converted in, stored and transported. A more direct approach towards harnessing Solar Energy is by photo-aided generation of hydrogen via splitting of water using photolysis. Photocatalytic water splitting is therefore a promising method for future energy security. On the other hand strain sensing is a useful technique to measure medium range loads in trusses or tension rods and can easily replace the existing fragile & expensive semiconductor based sensors. This was done by using a composite of TiO/sub 2/ Reduced Graphene Oxide (RGO); TiO/sub 2/ (anatase) was synthesized via sol-gel process and the main precursor was titanium tetrapropoxide (Ttip). Titania (anatase) characterized by XRD and photo spectrometry while Graphene oxide was synthesized via modified Hummer's Method. The obtained Reduce Graphene Oxide was dispersed using Sodium Dodecyl Benzene (SDB) and Hydrazine Hydrate. A drastic synergetic effect was found by simply mixing RGO with TiO2 Solution. This not only broadened the photoactivity spectrum of TiO/sub 2/ from UV region to the more available visible light radiation but also exhibit strain sensing properties and considerable tunable gauge factor. The photocatalytic effect of our composite was tested by coating it over Polycarbonate & then analyzing emitted gas bubbles in a UV radiation chamber while strain sensing was done by coating it on an elastic substrate and applying loads against values of resistance which were measured. This study will also include the reduction of recombination and band gap of TiO/sub 2/ in order to synchronize it with the available Solar Spectrum thus maximizing solar-to-hydrogen efficiency. (author)