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.