UV−vis−NIR diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) was applied to study the local structures of V(V) cations
on various oxide supports (Al2O3, ZrO2 TiO2, Nb2O5, CeO2, and SiO2) under hydrated and dehydrated
conditions. The edge energy (E
g) of the LMCT transitions of V(V) cations was used to elucidate the local
structures of V(V) cations, and a correlation between the edge energy and the number of the covalent V−O−V
bonds (CVB) around the central V(V) cations was established based on some V(V) reference compounds/oxides. For TiO2, Nb2O5, and CeO2 supported vanadia catalysts, the strong support absorption in the same
region as the V(V) cations prevents a reliable determination of the local structure of the surface vanadium
oxide species by either the LMCT band position or the edge energy. For Al2O3, ZrO2, and SiO2 supported
vanadia catalysts, the average CVB number derived from the edge energy allows the assignment of the possible
structure of the surface vanadium oxide species, which is a strong function of the support, environmental
conditions, and vanadia surface density. The DRS results provide reliable information and new insights into
the structural characteristics of the surface vanadium oxide species on these oxide supports under different
environmental conditions.