Visible light photodegradation of organic compounds over V2O5/MgF2 catalyst Original Research Article

Photodegradation catalysts were prepared by doping MgF2 matrix with V2O5. Since V2O5 has a band-gap of 2.0 eV, it is a potentially visible light excitable semiconductor. However, because of the rapid recombination of electron–hole pairs, pure V2O5 is not active in photodegradation reaction of organic pollutants. The doping of V2O5 into MgF2 matrix retards the recombination of electron–hole pairs in catalysts and makes the catalysts active in visible light. A photon quantum efficiency of 3.2% at 578 nm was obtained over 9.1 mol%VOx/MgF2 for acetone degradation. An even higher photon quantum efficiency of 34.6% at 578 nm was obtained over 0.133%Pt/9.1%VOx/MgF2 (in mol) for acetone degradation. The VOx/MgF2 catalysts and Pt-doped VOx/MgF2 catalysts were also proved to be active for the photodegradation of methanol, ethanol, and benzene.