Structural and Morphological Properties of Boron Doped V2O5 Thin Films: Highly Efficient Photocatalytic Degradation of Methyl Blue

Abstract

Boron doped vanadium thin films were fabricated on the micro-slide glass substrates by spray pyrolysis technique at substrate temperature of 400°C. Initially, 0.1 M vanadium(III) chloride (VCl₃) solution was prepared in ethanol: water mixture (1: 4) solvent. To prepare the boron doped vanadium oxide films as the concentrations of 2, 5, 7, 10, 20%, the suitable amount of H₃BO₃ was added in 0.1 M VCl₃ solution for each of the samples. X-Ray diffraction experiment with the produced films showed that tetragonal β-V₂O₅ phases formed. The synthesized boron-doped V₂O₅ thin films having the large surface area demonstrated the efficient catalytic properties in the photocatalytic degradation of methyl blue in water samples under Xenon light. The photocatalytic reaction efficiency was measured by recording the decrease of absorbance at 590 nm in UV-Vis absorption spectra. The methyl blue dye was degradated in approximately 30 min. The photocatalytic experiment results of the produced thin films showed that boron doping amount positively effects the degradation efficiency and reaction time.