Biomass derived the V-doped carbon/Bi₂O₃ composite for efficient photocatalysts

This work focused on the utilization of biological extract for the preparation of lignin-based carbon composites materials and used in the field of photocatalysis. A straightforward one-step carbonization way has been developed to prepare vanadium-doped lignin-based carbon/Bi₂O₃ composites photocatalyst by using sodium lignosulfonate as the carbon source and catalyst. The application of lignin as the carbon source to form photocatalyst support tends to control the uniform distribution. At the same time, sodium lignosulfonate as the catalyst could break down the BiVO₄ during carbonization process. A series of characterizations demonstrated the BiVO₄ was transformed into Bi₂O₃ and vanadium-doped lignin-based carbon. The possible synthesis process was proposed. Moreover, the novel V-doped carbon/Bi₂O₃ composites photocatalyst displayed higher photocatalytic activity than bare BiVO₄. A possible photocatalytic mechanism was also discussed. This work provided new insight into the lignin-based carbon materials.