20.500.12556/DiRROS-25139 Optimising the structure of mesoporous niobium oxide using evaporation-induced self-assembly synthesis method To increase the photocatalytic performance of Niobium(V) oxide (Nb2O5) it is necessary to increase its accessible surface area. The evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) synthesis method is well suited for the synthesis of mesoporous structures, but the optimisation of synthesis parameters for Nb2O5 is still limited. In this study, we demonstrate that the synthesis parameters — duration of evaporation, airflow rate, relative humidity and water content in the reaction mixture — significantly affect the specific surface area, mesoporous structure and photocatalytic performance of isopropanol oxidation into acetone of Nb2O5. Our results show that a combination of long evaporation duration, low airflow rate, low relative humidity and moderate water content are needed to obtain material with the highest specific surface area (145 m2 g−1) and a narrow hysteresis loop in the N2 sorption isotherm. This material exhibits four times higher photocatalytic activity compared to materials synthesised under less favourable conditions (14.3–17.7 μmol h−1 compared to 3.7 μmol h−1). We also show that the ordered mesoporous structure plays an important role in improving the photocatalytic performance: the materials with a higher degree of order exhibit about two times higher activity than the materials with a lower degree of order with the same specific surface area (10.4–12.1 μmol h−1 compared to 4.9–7.9 μmol h−1). These results provide valuable insights for optimising the synthesis of mesoporous niobium oxide to increase both the specific surface area and photocatalytic performance. Nb2O5 mesoporous material evaporation-induced self-assembly photocatalysis Nb2O5 mezoporozni material samourejanje z odparevanjem topila fotokataliza true false true Elsevier Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik © 2025 The Authors Neznano 2026-01-12 13:55:49 2026-01-12 14:02:47 2026-01-13 03:45:15 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2026 0 0 str. 1-9 [article no.] 113994 Vol. 402 Feb. 2026 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 2025-12-19 54 1873-3093 10.1016/j.micromeso.2025.113994 263282691 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.micromeso.2025.113994 0 066e8dfe-efb6-11f0-94a7-001a4af901a5 https://dirros.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=37870 RAZ_Nadrah_Peter_2026.pdf RAZ_Nadrah_Peter_2026.pdf 1 E90C6B7DC00034A1475C866489153B14 26914b1422feede4f545cade0972d1625899bf4c8123fe462200ccfb8f930a2b e5ee2814-efb6-11f0-94a7-001a4af901a5 https://dirros.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=37874 RAZ_Nadrah_Peter_2026.pdf RAZ_Nadrah_Peter_2026.pdf 1 8857C8C127B83044DAE60E5F64F45507 7bea7bdb278e00312c8cf3bc7cff246fb5280a37157febee17decb1a5d4059f9 f5025f87-efb6-11f0-94a7-001a4af901a5 https://dirros.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=37875 https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15298881 0 0731fb81-efb6-11f0-94a7-001a4af901a5 https://dirros.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=37871 Zavod za gradbeništvo Slovenije 0 0 0