Subsolidus phase relationships and photocatalytic properties in the ternary system TiO2–Bi2O3–V2O5

• The subsolidus phase relationships of the system TiO2–Bi2O3–V2O5 were determined.
• A new ternary compound Bi17V2TiO32.5 was found by the powder diffraction pattern.
• Bi25VO40 shows high photocatalytic activity under visible light.

The subsolidus phase relationships of the system TiO2–Bi2O3–V2O5 were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses. There were 8 binary compounds, two solid solution areas, 4 two-phase fields, and 12 three-phase regions in this system. A new ternary compound Bi17V2TiO32.5 was discovered by the powder diffraction pattern. Three solid solutions as xBi2O3:V2O5 (5 ⩽ x ⩽ 6), (Bi2O3)1−x(V2O5)x (0 ⩽ x ⩽ 0.069) and the BIMEVOX family of materials were also identified. The studies of the photocatalytic activity of selective area showed Bi25VO40 tops others with high photocatalytic activity under visible light.