Investigation of Structural and Morphological Properties of Two-Dimensional V₂CT_x (T_x=-OH,-F, Cl) MXene and Its Photocatalytic Activity

Photocatalytic dye degradation is a most promising and cost-effective way to remove organic pollutants from water in various industries. MXene, a new group of two-dimensional materials, has recently gained tremendous attention as a photocatalyst due to its unique surface functionalities, chemical composition, and physicochemical and visible light absorption properties. These properties make MXene a promising catalyst for the photodegradation of organic molecules. In this work, we have synthesized V₂CT_x (T_x = -OH, -F, Cl) MXene by acid etching method and have been characterized by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy to confirm its structural and surface morphological properties. The chemical composition of catalysts was studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS). The potentiality of photocatalytic degradation of V₂CT_x MXene was studied by UV-Visible spectroscopy using methylene blue (MB) and crystal violet(CV) under visible light irradiation. The degradation performance for 0.01 M MB dye is 97.9% in 45 minutes and for 0.25 M CV is 93% in 60 min under visible light. This work opens a path for studying the catalytic property of V₂CT_x MXene.