Synthesis and Optimization of Visible Light Active BiVO₄Photocatalysts for the Degradation of RhB

Abstract

Monoclinic BiVO 4 powders were synthesized via a novel route using potassium metavanadate (KVO 3 ) prepared by calcination of K 2 CO 3 and V 2 O 5 as a starting material and followed by hydrothermal treatment and were investigated for the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light irradiation. The synthesized BiVO 4 particles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and UV-Visible (UV-Vis) light diffuse reflectance spectrophotometry. The synthesis produced pure monoclinic BiVO 4 particles with multimorphological features containing flower-like, flake-ball, flake, cuboid-like, and plate-like shapes and exhibited strong absorption in the visible light range. The BiVO 4 prepared via KVO 3 possessed excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of RhB under visible light. The performance of this catalyst was found to be superior to other BiVO 4 photocatalysts prepared via ammonium metavanadate (NH 4 VO 3 ) using coprecipitation, combustion, and calcination methods reported in literature, respectively.