V₂O₅ nanoribbons/N-deficient g-C₃N₄ heterostructure for enhanced visible-light photocatalytic performance

Visible-light-induced heterostructure photocatalysts have been regarded as promising candidates in clean energy production and environmental treatment of organic pollutants. In this study, we have prepared nanocomposites of V₂O₅/N-deficient g-C₃N₄ (VO/Ndef-CN), which have been characterized by a variety of techniques. The as-synthesized nanocomposites show efficient bifunctional photocatalytic properties toward hydrogen generation and pollutants degradation (dye and antibiotic). The optimized 5VO/Ndef-CN photocatalyst exhibits improved photoactivity for H₂ production (5892 μmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹), with a high quantum yield of 6.5%, and fast degradation of organic pollutants, as well as high photocatalytic stability under visible light irradiation. The high photocatalytic efficiency is due to the presence of N defects and S-scheme heterojunction formation, which leads to rapid charge separation, enhanced visible-light absorption, and increased active sites. Furthermore, the possible activity-enhanced mechanism and the photodegradation pathway are proposed based on the experimental and density functional theory (DFT) investigations.