Porous p-NiO/n-Nb2O5 nanocomposites prepared by an EISA route with enhanced photocatalytic activity in simultaneous Cr(VI) reduction and methyl orange decolorization under visible light irradiation

Abstract

Porous NiO/Nb2O5 nanocomposites with Ni/Nb molar ratio of 0.4, 0.8 and 1.2 have been obtained via the EISA route using P123 copolymer as organic template, and are assigned as NiNb0.4, NiNb0.8 and NiNb1.2, respectively. For comparison, pure Nb2O5 sample assigned as NiNb0.0 was also synthesized by the same method. Structural and textural features of the as prepared samples were investigated by XRD, FTIR, FE-SEM, EDX, UV–vis DRS and BET techniques. The results indicated that the porous p-NiO/n-Nb2O5 junction nanocomposites were formed and coupling of NiO with Nb2O5 resulted a remarkable red shift in the optical response of the nanocomposite samples. The photocatalytic properties of the nanocomposite samples, and also synthesized pure Nb2O5 (NiNb0.0) and commercial Nb2O5 as reference catalysts were evaluated for the first time by simultaneous Cr(VI) reduction and MO decolorization in aqueous suspension under visible light irradiation at pH 2. NiNb0.4 was found to be the most active photocatalyst, which might be attributed to the extended absorption in the visible light region and the effective photogenerated electron–hole separation by the photosynergistic effects of the p-NiO/n-Nb2O5 composite powder. The photocatalytic efficiency of the most active photocatalyst, NiNb0.4, was found to be rather low for either single Cr(VI) solution or single MO solution. However, the photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI) and photocatalytic decolorization of MO proceed more rapidly for the coexistence system of Cr(VI) and MO than for the single process, showing synergetic effect between the reduction and decolorization reactions. The effects of initial concentration of Cr(VI), MO and the initial pH value on the rate of simultaneous photoreactions over NiNb0.4 sample, were also investigated. The Cr(VI) and MO removal rates were further enhanced by increasing MO and Cr (VI) concentration to an optimal value, respectively, and/or decreasing solution pH.