Surfactant Effects on the Synthesis of Redox Bifunctional V2O5 Photocatalysts

Abstract

Novel V2O5 bifunctional photocatalysts were prepared following a wet chemical process with the addition of anionic or non-ionic surfactants into the precursor solution and further heating under reflux. Detailed characterization and investigation of the relevant light-matter interactions proved that surfactants addition had a strong impact on the morphology, while also affecting the crystallinity, the optoelectronic properties, and the surface chemistry of the novel photocatalysts. The most efficient photocatalyst (T80) was based on tween 80, a surface-active agent employed for the first time in the synthesis of vanadium oxide materials. T80 presented crystalline nature without structural defects, which are usually centers of e− − h+ recombination. This material also exhibited small crystal size, high porosity, and short migration paths for the charge carriers, enabling their effective separation during photocatalysis. Under UV light illumination, T80 was capable to reduce hexavalent chromium to trivalent up to 70% and showed high yields in degrading methylene blue azo-dye and tetracycline antibiotic water pollutants. This remarkably high bifunctional performance defines T80 as a promising and capable photocatalytic material for both advanced oxidation and reduction processes (AOPs-ARPs).

Magnetic Metal Oxide-Based Photocatalysts with Integrated Silver for Water Treatment

“…For example, the hydroxyl radicals can oxidize organic compounds into small and much less toxic molecules [19]. The application of photocatalysis extends even further than organic pollutant degradation: photocatalytic chromium treatment can be an affordable, green and efficient technique for the neutralization of this dangerous pollutant; Cr 6+ can be reduced to its trivalent variation, Cr 3+ , which presents severely lower toxicity, via a photocatalytic reduction reaction [16,[20][21][22]. The most common photocatalytic materials are metal oxides [18].…”

SiC Foams for the Photocatalytic Degradation of Methylene Blue under Visible Light Irradiation

“…Several metal oxide materials with suitable properties such as TiO 2 [ 10 ], ZnO [ 11 ], SnO 2 [ 12 ], Fe 2 O 3 [ 13 ], and V 2 O 5 [ 14 ] can be used as photocatalysts, but most of them are only photoactive in the ultra-violet (UV) range, as their bandgap is larger than 3 eV [ 15 ]. Hence, they reach their maximum efficiency only when irradiated by UV lamps, which complicates the process technology and generates additional costs.…”

Mesoporous spongy Ni–Co oxides@wheat straw-derived SiO2 for adsorption and photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue pollutants

“…In the photocatalytic degradation methodology, the irradiation of a semiconductor, such as metal oxides, by UV-light produces some effective species such as electron-hole couples (e -/h + ), hydroxyl ( • OH), and superoxide ( • O2 -) radicals (Nemiwal et al 2021). The mentioned species is a potent agent capable of attacking MB-molecules and breaking them down into more minor compounds through oxidation-reduction reactions (Ibrahim et al 2020;Abdelwahab et al 2020;Norouzi et al 2021). As a result, the use of photocatalysts for environmental remediation has gained a lot of attention in recent years, as air and water contamination are potentially the most serious environmental threats to human health (Diaz et al 2020;Naing et al 2020).…”