Bismuth vanadate (BiVO 4 ) powder was successfully prepared by the sol-gel method.Bismuth nitrate and ammonium vanadate were used as the starting precursors with mole ratio of 1:1 in ethanol media at 70 • C for 1 h. The yellow gel was calcined at 400-600 • C for 2 h. The phase of BiVO 4 powder was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The morphology and chemical composition of BiVO 4 powder were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDXS). The functional groups of BiVO 4 powder was identified by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and the surface area of BiVO 4 powder was determined by Brunauer, Emmett and Teller technique (BET).

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Niobium-loaded Zinc Oxide nanoparticles (Nb-loaded ZnO NPs) in the range of 20 and 40 nm were synthesized by Flame Spray Pyrolysis (FSP) technique. The crystalline phase, morphology and size of the nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and UV-vis spectroscopy. The specific surface area of the nanoparticles was measured by nitrogen adsorption (BET analysis). The unloaded ZnO and Nb-loaded ZnO NPs were found to have the clear spherical, hexagonal and rod-like morphologies. In this study, the photocatalytic activities of unloaded ZnO and Nb-loaded ZnO NPs were determined by studying the mineralization of phenol under UV light illumination. The results indicated that all Nbloaded ZnO NPs have better photocatalytic activity than the unloaded ZnO nanoparticles. It was found that, 0.50 mol% Nb-loaded ZnO NPs exhibited the fastest response to the degradation of phenol.