Preparation and characterization of nanoparticulate NbO₂F by hydrothermal process

ABSTRACT

Using Nb₂O₅, HF and polyvinyl alcohol as major materials, the nanoparticulate NbO₂F was successfully prepared by hydrothermal method. The prepared samples were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR), and UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). The photocatalytic activity of nanoparticulate NbO₂F was investigated in experimental simulation wastewater containing 20 mg/L methyl orange. The results show that nanoparticulate NbO₂F sample is cubic structure with about 50–80 nm average crystal grain. The optical absorption edge of NbO₂F is 370 nm which corresponds to the band gap of 3.35eV. The photocatalytic experiment demonstrated that nanoparticulate NbO₂F show highly photocatalytic activity for the degradation of methyl orange.

KEYWORDS:

• NbO₂F
• hydrothermal method
• photocatalysis
• nanomaterials

Funding

This work was supported by the Academic Leader Programs of Huzhou University for Middle-aged and Young (No. RP23023) and the Zhejiang Province Natural Science Foundation of China (No. Y4100471).