Mesoporous cobalt-intercalated layered tantalotungstate with high visible-light photocatalytic activity

Cobalt-intercalated layered tantalotungstates as high visible-light active photocatalysts have been assembled by tantalotungstatete nanosheets with cobalt ions via an exfoliation–restacking route. It was revealed that the as-prepared nanohybrids are mesoporous with specific surface areas more than 35 m2/g and that the cobalt element in the materials is bivalent. The mesopores with average pore diameters of about 4.0 nm are originated from the house-of-cards-type stacking of the intercalated crystallites. Introducing cobalt ions into the interlayered region endowed the nanohybrids with distinct spectral responses in visible-light region, resulted from the hybridization of metal d and f orbits in conduction band to narrow the band gap. The intercalated nanohybrids exhibit high photocatalytic activities in the degradation of methylene blue under visible-light irradiation.

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► Cobalt-intercalated layered tantalotungstates were assembled via an exfoliation–restacking route.
► The nanohybrids process mesoporous textures with distinct spectral responses in visible-light region.
► The nanohybrids exhibit high visible-light-driven photocatalytic activities.