Facile synthesis of flower-like hierarchical N-doped Nb2O5/C nanostructures with efficient photocatalytic activity under visible light

Significant endeavors have been devoted in the past few years to establish efficient visible light-activated photocatalysts. Herein, we successfully synthesized a flower-like hierarchical nitrogen-doped and carbon-sensitized Nb2O5 (NBO) nanostructure (denoted N-NBO/C). The as-prepared N-NBO/C possessed a specific surface area of 260.37 m2 g−1 and single wire diameter of less than 10 nm. The effect of reaction parameters such as hydrothermal reaction time, temperature and concentration of hexamethylenetetramine (Hmta) on the morphology of NBO was systematically investigated to elucidate the growth mechanism. The carbon on the surface and the nitrogen in the framework of NBO are beneficial for light harvesting, visible light absorption, formation of oxygen vacancies, and electron–hole separation. The photocatalytic performance of the as-fabricated N-NBO/C nanostructures was estimated via the photodegradation of 30 mg L−1 RhB, where greater than 98% of RhB was decomposed within 30 min upon visible-light radiation. Hence, the obtained N-NBO/C nanostructure exhibits much higher photocatalytic activity for the decomposition of RhB upon visible light irradiation than that of pure niobium oxide (NBO), nitrogen-doped titanium oxide (N-TIO), and nitrogen-doped niobium oxide (N-NBO). This work supplies a versatile route for the synthesis of nitrogen-doped and carbon-sensitized metal-oxide nanostructures for possible utilization in solar energy transformation and environmental remediation.