Chinese Journal of Catalysis ›› 2021, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (1): 46-55.DOI: 10.1016/S1872-2067(20)63560-4

• Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

A novel step-scheme BiVO4/Ag3VO4 photocatalyst for enhanced photocatalytic degradation activity under visible light irradiation

Lizhong Liua, Taiping Hua, Kai Daia,*(), Jinfeng Zhanga,#(), Changhao Liangb,$()   

  1. aKey Laboratory of Green and Precise Synthetic Chemistry and Applications, Ministry of Education, College of Physics and Electronic Information, Huaibei Normal University, Huaibei 235000, Anhui, China
    bKey Laboratory of Materials Physics and Anhui Key Laboratory of Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology, Institute of Solid State Physics, Hefei Institute of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, Anhui, China
  • Received:2020-03-03 Accepted:2020-04-15 Online:2021-01-18 Published:2020-01-03
  • Contact: Kai Dai,Jinfeng Zhang,Changhao Liang
  • About author:$E-mail: chliang@issp.ac.cn
    #E-mail: jfzhang@chnu.edu.cn;
    *Fax: +86-561-3803256; E-mail: daikai940@chnu.edu.cn;
    First author contact: These authors contributed equally to this work.
  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China(51572103);National Natural Science Foundation of China(51973078);Distinguished Young Scholar of Anhui Province(1808085J14);Key Foundation of Educational Commission of Anhui Province(KJ2019A0595)

Abstract:

Over the past few years, the emission of organic pollutants into the environment has increased tremendously. Therefore, various photocatalysts have been developed for the degradation of organic pollutants. In this study, a step-scheme BiVO4/Ag3VO4 composite was synthesized via a hydrothermal and chemical deposition process for the degradation of methylene blue.The composite showed strong redox ability under visible light. The 40%BiVO4/Ag3VO4 composite showed excellent photocatalytic degradation properties with a Kapp of 0.05588 min-1, which is 22.76 and 1.76 times higher than those of BiVO4 (0.00247 min-1) and Ag3VO4 (0.03167 min-1), respectively. The composite showed a stable performance and could retain 90% of its photocatalytic activity even after four cycles. The improved catalytic performance of the composite as compared to BiVO4 and Ag3VO4 can be attributed to its novel step-scheme mechanism, which facilitated the separation of the photogenerated charges and increased their lifetime. The photoluminescence measurement results and transient photocurrent response revealed that the composite showed efficient extraction of charge carriers.

Key words: Step-scheme photocatalyst, BiVO4, Ag3VO4, Photocatalytic activity, Methylene blue