Graphene nanocluster decorated niobium oxide nanofibers for visible light photocatalytic applications

Abstract

In this paper, we report a novel nanocomposite of graphene nanocluster decorated Nb₂O₅ nanofibers. With the structural modification, the photocatalytically active region of Nb₂O₅ has been significantly extended from the UV region to the UV-Vis region (from ∼380 nm to ∼800 nm in the adsorption edge); and hence, the visible light photocatalytic performance has been greatly improved. Detailed structural analysis revealed that the enhanced photocatalytic activity of the graphene nanocluster decorated Nb₂O₅ nanofibers could be mainly attributed to the modification of the bandgaps by the clusters and the unique orientation of graphene layers (nearly perpendicular to the Nb₂O₅/C interface, which is quite different from classical “core–shell” composites). We believe that the findings suggest a potential candidate for visible-light photocatalytic applications and would inspire further studies.