Chapter 14: Vanadium Oxides in Photocatalysis, Including Bare Oxides and VOx-based Organic–Inorganic Nanocomposites

This chapter aims to provide an overview of the role and prospects of vanadium oxide photocatalysts in the light of the knowledge gathered from selected literature reports. Considering the widely known catalytic activity of oxo-vanadium species in conventional heterogeneous catalysis, we intend to explore the advantages and limitations of different types of vanadium-based catalysts to promote chemical reactions under generally mild and environment-friendly conditions, typical of photocatalysis. After a brief introduction on general topics related to vanadium-oxide chemistry and heterogeneous photocatalysis, we will review vanadium-oxide photocatalysts commenting on relevant aspects of their preparation, chemical characteristics and photocatalytic activity, including, where available, useful theoretical approaches to understand the role of vanadium oxides in catalyst performance. Along the second and following chapter sections – pure, supported, doping, composites, and inorganic-organic nanocomposites photocatalysts – we analyze selected catalysts roughly grouped according to their most common vanadia photocatalysts centres in the catalyst.