Photodegradation of acetone by visible light-responsive V2O5/EuVO4 composite

This paper presents a new visible-light driven photocatalyst, VEuOx composite, which was synthesized from the aqueous solutions of Eu(NO3)3 and NH4VO3. The photocatalyst shows high activity for photodegradation of acetone under both UV and visible light. The optimal V to Eu molar ratio is 1.5. By loading a small amount of Pt the catalytic performance of V1.5Eu1Ox catalyst could be improved further. 99.4% of acetone was completely photodegradated to CO2 and H2O under visible light. The physical and photophysical properties of the VEuOx composite catalysts were characterized by BET, XRD, Raman, FT-IR, UV–vis spectra, and photoluminescence spectra, respectively. On the basis of the investigation results and calculated energy band positions, the origin of the high photocatalytic activity is discussed.