TiO₂ Decorated Graphene as a Fluorescent Chemosensor for the Detection of Silver Ions.

In this report, a new design is proposed for the detection of silver ions using Graphene Oxide-Titanium oxide (GO/TiO₂) composite. The GO was synthesized by modified Hummers method and the composite is synthesized by chemical reflux method. The surface morphology of the composite was analyzed using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), and it is clearly observed that TiO₂ spheres are adsorbed on the surface of GO in a disordered manner. X-ray Diffraction (XRD) results confirm the presence of TiO₂ on GO. Photoluminescence (PL) spectra show the reduced recombination of charge carriers in the (GO/TiO₂) composite. The resulting composite selectively detects silver ions over other potentially competing metal ions with no notable interference monitored by fluorescence.