Rational design of high temperature processed TbVO4/Nb2O5/carbon aerogel photocatalyst for prompt degradation of emerging pollutants

This present study investigates the construction of novel ternary heterojunction photocatalysts using terbium vanadate (TbVO4), niobium pentoxide (Nb2O5), and carbon aerogel (CG), to increase the photocatalytic performances under visible light. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) outcomes confirmed that the TbVO4 and Nb2O5 present themselves in a highly crystalline nature due to the high-temperature synthesis process. The successful combination of carbon aerogel and Nb2O5 into the TbVO4 lattice is further established by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies. The UV-DRS results confirmed that the materials comprising of both carbon aerogel and Nb2O5 present an expressive improvement in visible light activity, which leads to a drop-in band gap energy of the ternary TbVO4/Nb2O5/carbon aerogel photocatalyst. The improved charge separation in the ternary system was further confirmed by the electron spin resonance (ESR) and photoluminescence (PL) studies. The experimental results reveal that Nb2O5 and carbon aerogel were successfully incorporated in the TbVO4, increasing its surface area and structural photostability, thereby increasing its photocatalytic performance in the removal of pollutants under visible light. Compared with TbVO4 and Nb2O5, the outcomes illustrate that the TbVO4/Nb2O5/carbon aerogel displays the optimum photocatalytic removal rate and outstanding chemical stability in the removal of sulfamethoxazole. It shows a degradation efficiency of 92.3% in 90 min, which is 5 and 7 times as high as TbVO4 and Nb2O5, respectively. Based on the trapping experiments, h+, OH, and O2− improved the sulfamethoxazole photodegradation process. Finally, a novel, recyclable photocatalyst was made, which underwent a brand-new pathway for the degradation of various emerging pollutants.