Abstract
In this contribution, mesoporous V2O5–TiO2 heterojunctions were constructed utilizing a soft-chemistry approach. The photocatalytic ability of the V2O5–TiO2 nanocomposites was assessed for tetracycline degradation under visible exposure compared to bare TiO2 and P-25. TEM images presented the close contact between the tetragonal TiO2 in the anatase phase and orthorhombic V2O5 with particle sizes between 10 and 20 nm. The obtained V2O5–TiO2 photocatalysts indicated higher photocatalytic performance compared to bare TiO2 and P-25 in the photooxidation of tetracycline. It demonstrated that 3%V2O5–TiO2 nanocomposite exhibited a superb photocatalytic ability in the destruction of tetracycline ∼100% after 120 min, owing to its promoted visible harvest ability, large surface area and enhanced separation efficiency of carriers. Meanwhile, the kinetic rate constant of 3%V2O5–TiO2 nanocomposite was about 9.8 and 29.3 times larger than bare TiO2 and P-25. The photocurrent responses and PL spectra measurements are matched well with the photocatalytic efficiency of the V2O5–TiO2 nanocomposites. The reasonably designed heterojunctions V2O5–TiO2 nanocomposites could enhance the photocatalytic performance by reducing the recombination rate of photoinduced carriers.
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•V2O5–TiO2 heterojunctions were constructed utilizing a soft-chemistry approach.•The photocatalytic ability of V2O5–TiO2 was assessed for tetracycline degradation.•TEM images of V2O5–TiO2 are highly distributed with spherical shapes (10–20 nm).•The 3%V2O5–TiO2 exhibited a superb photocatalytic ability ∼100% after 120 min.•The rate constant of 3%V2O5–TiO2 was 9.8 and 29.3 times larger than TiO2 and P-25.