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Chemical reduction implanted oxygen vacancy on the surface of 1D MoO3−x/g-C3N4 composite for boosted LED light-driven photoactivity

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Abstract

There is an important demand for cheap and efficient photocatalysts for dual functional applications. In the study, we report novel 1D MoO3−x/g-C3N4 composite using ethanol as a reducing agent to introduce oxygen vacancy (Ov). The presence of oxygen vacancy has been confirmed by X-ray photoelectron (XPS), electron spin resonance spectra and redox experiments. Compared with MoO3−x, g-C3N4 and fully oxidized MoO3/g-C3N4, the proposed MoO3−x/g-C3N4 composite exhibited a higher photoactivity, effectively degrading methyl orange in 100 min and completely inactivating Escherichia coli in 15 min under visible light-emitting diode irradiation. Trapping experiments demonstrated that holes (h+) and superoxide radicals (·O2−) were the major active species involved in the photocatalytic process. The enhanced photoactivity was attributed to: (1) broadening of the light absorption range associated with the oxygen vacancy, which also served as electron mediators, facilitating the separation of electron–hole pairs, and (2) the 1D nanostructure of MoO3−x, which increased the lifetime of charge carriers. The results provide evidence of the advantages of the introduction of oxygen vacancy with a view to broadening the applications of this photocatalyst.

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Acknowledgements

The authors genuinely appreciate the financial support of this work from the National Nature Science Foundation of China (21406094, 21476097 and 21476098), Postdoctoral Foundation of China (2015M571693) and Foundation of Jiangsu University (14JDG184). This study was supported by the high-performance computing platform of Jiangsu University.

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  1. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, People’s Republic of China

    Liying Huang & Fei Zhang

  2. School of Pharmacy, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, People’s Republic of China

    Yeping Li, Hao Wang, Qian Wang & Chaobao Wang

  3. Institute for Energy Research, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, People’s Republic of China

    Hui Xu & Huaming Li

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  1. Liying Huang
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Huang, L., Zhang, F., Li, Y. et al. Chemical reduction implanted oxygen vacancy on the surface of 1D MoO3−x/g-C3N4 composite for boosted LED light-driven photoactivity. J Mater Sci 54, 5343–5358 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-018-03227-4

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