Porous Vanadium/Titanium Oxides—Synthesis, Characterization, and Photocatalytic Activity

Meifang Zhou; Fuzhi Huang; Xingdong Wang; Johan du Plessis; Anthony B. Murphy; Rachel A. Caruso

doi:10.1071/CH06405

RESEARCH FRONT

Porous Vanadium/Titanium Oxides—Synthesis, Characterization, and Photocatalytic Activity

Meifang Zhou ^A , Fuzhi Huang ^A , Xingdong Wang ^A , Johan du Plessis ^B , Anthony B. Murphy ^C and Rachel A. Caruso ^A ^D

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A Particulate Fluids Processing Centre, School of Chemistry, University of Melbourne, Melbourne VIC 3010, Australia.

^B Department of Applied Physics, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne VIC 3001, Australia.

^C CSIRO Industrial Physics, Lindfield NSW 2070, Australia.

^D Corresponding author. Email: rcaruso@unimelb.edu.au

Australian Journal of Chemistry 60(7) 533-540 https://doi.org/10.1071/CH06405
Submitted: 31 October 2006 Accepted: 22 December 2006 Published: 9 July 2007

Abstract

Sol–gel chemistry and a templating technique were combined for the synthesis of vanadium/titanium oxides with controlled porous structure and various quantities of vanadium (0–9.7 at-%). The specific surface area of the porous vanadium/titanium oxides increased with increasing vanadium content to a maximum of 72 m² g^–1 at 6.6 at-% V, with a corresponding decrease in anatase crystal size (minimum of 12.4 nm), and c-axis lattice parameter (0.9475 nm). The optical band-gap decreased substantially from 3.10 eV for TiO₂ to 2.53 eV on the addition of 9.7 at-% V. The adsorption capability of the oxides for aqueous methylene blue (pH ~6) increased significantly with increasing vanadium content (26.7 to 318.9 mg L^–1 g^–1 for 0 to 9.7 at-% V). The photodegradation of methylene blue was most efficient with the 0.9 at-% V-TiO₂ sample for both UV and visible light irradiation.

Acknowledgments

The Australian Research Council is acknowledged for financial support. R.A.C. is grateful to the ARC for an Australian Research Fellowship.

References

Porous Vanadium/Titanium Oxides—Synthesis, Characterization, and Photocatalytic Activity

Abstract

Acknowledgments

Subscriber Login