Investigating the effect of adding V2O5 an‎d MXene on the photocatalytic properties of TiO2 nanoparticles

3/21/2026 12:00:00 AM

The rapid growth of industry in recent decades has increased the production of organic an‎d inorganic pollutants, resulting in serious environmental challenges. Among clean technologies, photocatalytic processes are among the most effective methods for removing toxic organic compounds, especially industrial dyes. One of the methods for increasing the efficiency of photocatalysts is the creation of heterogeneous structures. Composites an‎d the creation of heterogeneous structures separate electrons an‎d holes generated by light an‎d increase the efficiency of the photocatalyst. In this study, a multiphase V₂O₅ / TiO₂ - MXene composite was designed an‎d synthesized with the aim of improving the photocatalytic activity in the removal of organic pigments such as methylene blue dye. In the first step, V2O5 were synthesized by the hydrothermal method using CTAB an‎d PVP surfactants, an‎d the optimal sample with 1 mmol CTAB was selec‎ted due to its more uniform structure, lower charge recombination, higher specific surface area an‎d higher photocatalytic activity .so that this sample in 180 minutes, destroyed 69 % of methylene blue dye. Then, different percentages of prepared V2O5 powder (1, 5, 10, 15, an‎d 20%) were added to the solution to obtain heterogeneous nanostructures with higher optical efficiency. The results of XRD an‎d Raman tests showed that the anatase TiO₂ an‎d orthorhombic V₂O₅ phases were properly formed. The results showed that the optimal ratio of 15% V₂O₅ led to more effective absorption of visible light, reduced electron-hole recombination, uniform dispersion of V2O5 particles in TiO2 subgrade an‎d increase in specific surface area (149.5 m2 g-1) according to BET, an‎d consequently increased the degradation of pollutants such as methylene blue, so that this sample completely degraded methylene blue dye in 180 minutes. Also, to improve performance, 1% of prepared Maxen was added during the synthesis of TiO₂ by the sol-gel method, along with prepared V₂O₅ powder. Finally, the TiO₂/15%V₂O₅– 1%MXene sample by creating heterogeneous structure of type Z showed the best performance due to the uniform growth of particles on the MXene layer, increasing the specific surface area(170.4 m2g-1), reducing the recombination of optical carriers, facilitating electron transfer due to their MXene role as electron donor an‎d increasing the speed of methylene blue. so that the composite was completely degraded by methylene blue in 120 min.

فوتوكاتاليست , V2O5 , TiO2 , مكسن , ساختار ناهمگون , سنتز سل-ژل , سنتز هيدروترمال

Photocatalyst , TiO2 , V2O5 , MXene , Heterogeneous structure , Sol-gel synthesis , Hydrothermal synthesis

Sara Sotoudeh Hezzebaran

Amirmahmoud Bakhshayesh , Seyyed Morteza Masoudpanah