Bismuth oxide modified V 2 C MXene as a Schottky catalyst with enhanced photocatalytic oxidation for photo-denitration activities

In this work, a new composite photocatalyst was synthesized by flower-like Bi2O3 and two-dimensional multilayer V2C using a facile hydrothermal method. Compared with the pristine sample, the specific surface area of Bi2O3/V2C MXene composite is significantly increased, which is favourable to improve the photocatalytic efficiency. The analysis of the UV-vis absorption spectrum and band gap energy shows that the construction of heterojunction broadens the light response range, improves the light absorption capacity, and obtains a narrower band gap than any of the single component, which is beneficial to the utilization of light. PL, TPC and EIS analysis revealed that Bi2O3/V2C MXene composite had stronger carrier mobility, which further confirmed that the photocatalytic oxidation performance of the system was the dominant reason in the photocatalytic NO pollutant removal process. This study provides a new idea for better understanding the two-dimensional MXene material-based photocatalyst and improving the NO removal efficiency.