Recently, Prof. Zhang Jinlong Group reported the fabrication of Mesoporous TiO2 Nanocrystals and Graphene Aerogels composite compound and its application in photocatalysis and lithium ion battery for the first time. This research work was published in Journal of the American Chemical Society (J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2014, 136, 5852–5855).

    TiO2/Graphene composites have been well studied as a solar light photocatalysts and electrode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Recent reports have shown that ultralight 3D-graphene aerogels (GAs) can better adsorb organic pollutants and can provide multidimensional electron transport pathways, implying a significant potential application for photocatalysis and LIBs. Dr. Mingyang Xing and Dr. Bocheng Qiu from Jinlong Zhang group successfully fabricated mesoporous TiO2 nanocrystals with (001) facets on GAs via a hydrothermal method. This method uses glucose as the dispersant and linker owing to its hierarchically porous structure and a high surface area. The TiO2/GAs reported here exhibit a highly recyclable photocatalytic activity for methyl orange pollutant and a high specific capacity in LIBs. The strong interaction between TiO2 and GAs, the facet characteristics, the high electrical conductivity, and the 3-dimensional hierarchically porous structure of these composites result in highly active photocatalysis, a high rate capability, and stable cycling.

    This work has been supported by National Nature Science Foundation of China(2013CB632403, 21237003, 21073060, 21203062), National Basic Research Programof China (973 Program, 2010CB732306, 2011CB808505), the Project of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (2011DFA50530), the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality (12230705000) and sponsored by the Program of Shanghai Subject Chief Scientist (12XD1402200) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.