Controllable synthesis of high surface area Nb2O5 nanowires by polyamide

A high surface area Nb2O5 nanowire material was synthesised by the soft chemical method using polyamide (Pebax) as a structure direct agent and isopropanol as a solvent. The crystal size and BET surface area of Nb2O5 were tuned by the quantity of Pebax. The surface area can reach up to 402 m2 g−1, which is higher than the reported value in the literature. Adsorption properties and photocatalyst properties were tested using methylene blue (MB), neural red (NR), Rhodamine B (RhB), and methyl orange (MO). The results show that MB and NR exhibit a good adsorption performance, the molecular structures of the dyes have a tricyclic aromatic ring and several amine groups can improve their adsorption properties. In a photocatalyst reaction, Nb2O5 has a selective activity for dye degradation. After 2 h of ultraviolet irradiation, the degradation rate of MB is about 91.9%, but the NR was degraded little.