Graphitic carbon-encapsulated V2O5 nanocomposites as a superb photocatalyst for crystal violet degradation

• Published in: Environmental research 2022-04, Vol.205, p.112201-112201, Article 112201
• Main Authors: Sekar, Sankar, Rabani, Iqra, Bathula, Chinna, Kumar, Subalakshmi, Govindaraju, Saravanan, Yun, Kyusik, Seo, Young-Soo, Kim, Deuk Young, Lee, Sejoon
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Crystal violet; Dye degradation; Graphitic carbon; Nanocomposites; Photocatalysts; V2O5
• ISSN: 0013-9351; 1096-0953
• DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2021.112201

To materialize the excellent photocatalyst for crystal violet dye-degradation, the graphitic carbon-encapsulated vanadium pentoxide (GC-V2O5) nanocomposites were synthesized through the simple sonication method by using the green tea waste-derived GC nanoflakes and the sonochemically synthesized V2O5 nanorods. The nanocomposites were confirmed to comprise an aggregated morphology, in which the orthorhombic V2O5 nanorods were well anchored with the intertwingled GC nanoflakes. Owing to the encapsulation of defective V2O5 by conductive GC, the GC-V2O5 nanocomposites exhibited the enhanced photocatalytic dye-degradation efficiency up to 98.4% within 105 min. Namely, the encapsulated GC nanosheets might compensate the native defects (i.e., charge traps) on the V2O5 surface; hence, the charge transport could be enhanced during the dye-degradation process while the photocarrier recombination could be suppressed. The results suggest the conducting layer-encapsulated semiconducting oxide nanocomposites (e.g., GC-V2O5) to be of good use for future green environmental technology, particularly, as a superb photocatalyst for dye degradation. •The nanocomposites of GC-V2O5 were prepared by ultrasonication.•GC-V2O5 showed GC-encapsulated V2O5 morphology.•GC encapsulation leads to the decrease in surface defects in V2O5.•GC-V2O5 shows the high photocatalytic dye degradation rate up to 98.4%.•GC-V2O5 can be used as a superb photocatalyst for dye degradation.