Synthesis, characterization and photocatalytic performance of VDyO x composite under visible light irradiation

Abstract

A VDyO x (V 2O 5/DyVO 4) composite photocatalyst was prepared using a simple solution method. The powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) method, Raman spectroscopy (Raman), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. Visible light-induced photocatalytic activities of the powders were evaluated by the degradation of acetone. Results generally show that the binary semiconductors V 2O 5/DyVO 4 with matching band potentials exhibit better photocatalytic properties compared with those of the single phase V 2O 5 or DyVO 4. An acetone conversion of 91.6% was achieved over V 1.5Dy 1O x composite photocatalyst under visible light irradiation. Effective electron–hole separation in the two semiconductors is believed to be mainly responsible for the increased photocatalytic performance of composites. The performance of the VDyO x composite catalyst can be further improved by loading a small amount of Pt. In addition, the Pt doped V 1.5Dy 1O x catalyst was also proven to be efficient in the photodegradation of 2-propanol and benzene.