Synthesis, photocatalytic performance and negative thermal expansion property of nanorods ZrMo2−x V x O8−x/2 with cubic structure

Abstract

Cubic ZrMo2−x V x O8−x/2 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.5) compounds, with well-defined nanorods morphology, were synthesized by a facile sol–gel process without using any surfactant or template. The resulting products were characterized by the X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, thermal mechanical analyzer and UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectra (UV–vis DRS). The results indicated that V-doping did not influence the crystal structure and negative thermal expansion (NTE) property, but made rods size increase. Narrowed band gap was observed in V-doped ZrMo2O8. The resultant V-doped ZrMo2O8 samples, as compared with pure ZrMo2O8, exhibited improved UV-light photocatalytic activity, during the photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B. The mechanism was supposed that the V-doping gave rise to the formation of oxygen vacancies which could enhance photocatalytic performance by reducing the recombination of electrons and holes. In addition, cubic ZrMo2−x V x O8−x/2 also displayed reliable recycling photocatalytic performance and satisfying UV-light catalytic activity for the organic pollutant. Furthermore, all of the resulting cubic ZrMo2−x V x O8−x/2 showed excellent NTE property from 25 to 450 °C. TEM images of (a) pure ZrMo2O8 and (b) ZrMo1.7V0.3O7.85; (c) RhB degradation under UV-light illumination for 180 min in the presence of cubic ZrMo2−x V x O8−x/2 (x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5) photocatalysts.