Publication

Abstract : The present work investigates the visible-light-induced photocatalytic activity of V2O5 nanostructures doped with various amounts of Ti (5%, 10% and 15%). Using polyol method, the pure and Ti-V2O5 nanostructures are synthesized; and are characterized by XRD, Raman, FE-SEM, UV-Vis, and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activity of pure and doped nanostructures are tested by using aqueous solution of methylene blue of concentration 10−5 M. The Ti4+ ions introduced into V2O5 lattice formed trap states within forbidden gap. Higher dopant concentration resulted in the formation of additional trap centers, which acted as recombination centers for photoinduced excitons. However, 5% Ti-V2O5 exhibited a lower recombination rate than pure one and enhanced the photocatalytic activity. The study reveals that optimum dopant concentration can enhance the photocatalytic activity of V2O5 nanostructures.