Ag0.35V2O5/TiO2 branched nanoheterostructures: Facile fabrication and efficient visible light photocatalytic activity

Although titanium dioxide (TiO2) is a prototypical semiconductor photocatalyst, further application is limited by its inefficient solar energy conversion because of the relative large bandgap. Herein, a novel TiO2 based photocatalyst, Ag0.35V2O5/TiO2 branched nanoheterostructures, is synthesized using a onestep electrospinning process. The nanoheterostructures exhibit enhanced visible light absorption, and the visible light photocatalytic activity of the nanoheterostructures is far exceeding than that of pure TiO2 nanofibers. Furthermore, the influence of Ag0.35V2O5/TiO2 molar ratio on the visible light photocatalysis is studied and the optimum molar ratio is found to be around 1:2, where the Ag0.35V2O5/TiO2 branched nanoheterostructures demonstrate the most excellent photocatalytic activity. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.