Hybrid catalysts of molybdovanadophosphoric acid and g-C3N4 with tunable bandgaps

Abstract

The integration of semiconductors and polyoxometalates provides promising benefits for the rational tuning of hybrid materials’ electronic band structures; however, the intrinsic influence of certain hybridization approaches on the resulting bandgaps of their complexes has seldom been noted. Herein, graphitic carbon nitride and a series of phosphovanadomolybdates (H_3+xPMo_12−xV_xO₄₀, x = 0–3) have been complexed through electrostatic charge attraction, and their optical and electronic properties are fully explored to investigate the effect of minor variations of the polyoxometalate structures on the hybrid bandgaps and electronic structures. The conduction band edge of the hybrids increases along with the expansion of the number of vanadium centers in the phosphovanadomolybdate, providing potential guidance for the design of hybrid catalysts.