Title : Facile preparation of protonated hexaniobate nanosheets and its enhanced photocatalytic activity

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Title of Paper:Facile preparation of protonated hexaniobate nanosheets and its enhanced photocatalytic activity

Journal:Nanotechnology

Abstract:Exfoliated hexaniobate nanosheets E-H2K2Nb6O17−x (E-HKNO) with broad light absorption (up to 850 nm) and high adsorption properties were prepared via ion exchange and transient annealing processes with micron-size K4Nb6O17 powders as the precursor. The as-prepared E-HKNO nanosheets show excellent visible light photodegradation performances when compared to degussa P25, which was evaluated in terms of degradation of Rhodamine B (Rh B). High adsorption and broad light absorption characteristics could beattributedtothe exfoliation behavior and the reduction of surface Nb5+ to Nb4+, which was confirmed by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Raman spectra. From the Mott–Schottky analysis, the E-HKNO is an n-type semiconductor and has a higher flat band voltage (−0.46V versus RHE at pH = 7),comparedwithK4Nb6O17.In addition, the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) indicates that the E-HKNO nanosheets have an increased semiconductor–electrolyte charge transfer resistance, which is not conducive to the separation of photogenerated carriers (e−-h+). Accordingly, a small amount of holes scavenger (EDTA) was added to improve the photodegradation performance of the E-HKNO, since the holes scavenger can inhibit the recombination of the photogenerated carriers. This work provides not only a facile method for the preparation of an efficient E-HKNO nanosheets photocatalyst, but also new insights for further enhancing the photodegradation performance by adding trace scavenger.

All the Authors:Peng Chen,Yapeng Tian,Jie Liu,Zuoli He,Huanfu Zhou,Ling Bing Kong

First Author:Xiaobin Liu

Indexed by:Journal paper

Correspondence Author:Wenxiu Que

Issue:28

Page Number:235702 (12pp)

Translation or Not:no

Date of Publication:2017-05-01

Included Journals:SCI