Design and Preparation of Ti ₃ C ₂ /Mo‐BiVO ₄ Photocatalyst for the Highly Efficient Degradation of Methylene Blue

Abstract In this study, a novel photocatalyst Ti ₃ C ₂ /Mo‐BiVO ₄ (TC/MBV) is designed and constructed by the hydrothermal synthesis method. In this composite, Mo doping can increase the specific surface area of pure BiVO ₄ (BV) and provide more reaction sites. Mo‐BiVO ₄ (MBV) is further modified with Ti ₃ C ₂ (TC) on its surface. The single‐layer Ti ₃ C ₂ can enhance the adsorption capacity of the photocatalyst for methylene blue (MB), and its excellent conductivity improves the electron‐hole separation rate. In the photocatalytic test, 3% TC/MBV showed better photocatalytic activity, and 95.75% of MB is removed. It went beyond that twice of BV (42%) and better than 3‐MBV (79%), significantly. And the normalized degradation rates ( k _norm ) values for 3‐MBV and 3% TC/MBV are 1.19 times and 1.37 times that of BV, respectively. 3% TC/MBV can effectively degrade MB in the wide pH range (5–11), and it is able to resist the disturbance of most common anions. Besides, 3% TC/MBV can still maintain a high degradation level and good stability after five cycles. The results showed that the synergistic effect of element doping and cocatalyst modification can significantly improve the photocatalytic performance of BV. The results of this study further complement the synergistic effect of element doping and cocatalyst modification to achieve efficient purification of organic dyes.