Surfactant-assisted tuning of K2V3O8 nanorods for robust charge dynamics in semiconductor photocatalysis

Abstract

This work presents a deep investigation into the structural and optoelectronic properties of K2V3O8 nanorods for testing their photocatalytic potentials. K2V3O8 nanorods have been synthesized by a simple surfactant-assisted hydrothermal method, with the surfactant SDS being incorporated to tune the morphology of the nanorods. Morphological analyses have revealed a profound effect of SDS in tailoring the morphology of the nanorods, due to a systematic layer by layer assembly of K2V3O8 nuclei along the surfactant chains. Various structural and optoelectronic analyses have been performed to establish the enhanced charge migration and charge separation efficiency along the smooth nanorod surfaces. The spectroscopic analyses have been theoretically studied by generating electronic structures via DFT calculations. The tuned nanorods demonstrated excellent photocatalytic activity, achieving 93% degradation of complex pharmaceutical levofloxacin and a robust photocurrent density of 0.7 mA/cm2 at 1.23 V vs RHE. Thus, this work establishes K2V3O8 nanorods as a novel material for photocatalysis and also explores their structure–property relationships for achieving optimal photocatalytic activity.