Visible-Light-Driven Selective Oxidation of Toluene into Benzaldehyde over Nitrogen-Modified Nb2O5 Nanomeshes

Photocatalytic selective oxidation of hydrocarbons to oxygenated chemicals greatly relies on catalytic materials that show high efficiency of photogenerated holes and electrons separation and visible light absorption capacity. We herein report one Nb2O5 nanomeshes material (Nb2O5-N) exhibits a 37-fold reaction rate larger than its pristine counterpart in photocatalytic oxidation of toluene into benzaldehyde under visible light irradiation. The reactivity is ascribed to an extended absorption spectrum within 700 nm by nitrogen-modification. In addition, photocurrent response results suggest that a relaxation effect induced by nanomesh structure is beneficial to the separation of charge carriers for enhanced reactivity. This work sheds light on regulating the electronic structure of metal oxides and the application of nanomeshes materials in photocatalytic hydrocarbon conversion.