Bismuth oxide modified V₂C MXene as a Schottky catalyst with enhanced photocatalytic oxidation for photo-denitration activities

ABSTRACT

In this work, a new composite photocatalyst was synthesized by flower-like Bi₂O₃ and two-dimensional multilayer V₂C using a facile hydrothermal method. Compared with the pristine sample, the specific surface area of Bi₂O₃/V₂C MXene composite is significantly increased, which is favourable to improve the photocatalytic efficiency. The analysis of the UV-vis absorption spectrum and band gap energy shows that the construction of heterojunction broadens the light response range, improves the light absorption capacity, and obtains a narrower band gap than any of the single component, which is beneficial to the utilization of light. PL, TPC and EIS analysis revealed that Bi₂O₃/V₂C MXene composite had stronger carrier mobility, which further confirmed that the photocatalytic oxidation performance of the system was the dominant reason in the photocatalytic NO pollutant removal process. This study provides a new idea for better understanding the two-dimensional MXene material-based photocatalyst and improving the NO removal efficiency.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• Bi-based semiconductor
• V₂C MXene
• photocatalysis
• nitrogen oxide
• denitration

Data availability statement

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article and its supplementary materials.

Acknowledgements

The authors thank ‘Wuhan Engineering Technology Research Center for Advanced Fibers’ for providing partial support for materials processing.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Scientific Research Plan Project of Education Department of Hubei: [grant number D20181702, Q20151605].