BiVO₄ as a Visible-Light Photocatalyst Prepared by Ultrasonic Spray Pyrolysis

Abstract

BiVO 4 powders with unique particle architectures have been synthesized using ultrasonic spray pyrolysis (USP). Gases created from the evaporation of solvent and the decomposition of precursor materials shape the morphology of the particles as the solids are formed in the heated aerosol. The BiVO 4 powder was tested as oxygen evolving photocatalysts by monitoring the kinetics of O 2 formation from a AgNO 3 solution irradiated with λ > 400 nm light. USP prepared BiVO 4 was found to have significantly superior photocatalytic activity compared to commercial BiVO 4 and WO 3 , likely due to differences in particle morphology.

Atypical BiOCl/Bi2S3 hetero-structures exhibiting remarkable photo-catalyst response

“…The preferential growth of Bi 2 S 3 into nanorods/microwires depends on its intrinsic nature. Bi 2 S 3 is a highly anisotropic semi-conductor with layered structure parallel to the growth direction [35], so the composite BiOCl/ Bi 2 S 3 has the Bi 2 S 3 prongs and BiOCl plate with increasing reaction duration. The corresponding XRD pattern only shows the strong peaks of BiOCl in the absence of S powder, while sample C1 shows some peaks of Bi 2 S 3 .…”

“…The second strategy is to exploit novel non-TiO 2 -based semiconductor photocatalysts displaying strong visible light response. Among non-TiO 2 -based semiconductors, emerging candidates to the exploit novel of photocatalyst in the visible region include Bi 2 WO 6 [30], BiOCl, BiOBr [31][32][33], InNbO 4 [34] and BiVO 4 [35]. However, these strategies are expected to satisfy the large-scale application under visible light irradiation.…”

Visible-light sensitive cobalt-doped BiVO4 (Co-BiVO4) photocatalytic composites for the degradation of methylene blue dye in dilute aqueous solutions

“…520 nm [19]. Experimental results on the photocatalytic evolution of oxygen [20] and the photocatalytic degradation of organic compounds [21,22] using monoclinic BVO 4 indicated that BVO 4 was an effective photocatalyst under visible light. Nonetheless, although BVO 4 can utilize a greater portion of the solar light than TiO 2 , the photogenerated holes and electrons recombine rapidly as well.…”

Nickel/Iron Oxide Nanocrystals with a Nonequilibrium Phase: Controlling Size, Shape, and Composition

“…13−16 Many synthetic methods have been reported for the production of high-purity MMOs, including the mechanical mixing of metal precursors, 17−19 spray pyrolysis, 20,21 sol−gel decomposition, 11,22−24 hydrothermal processing, 24−27 polymerbased processes, 28,29 and solution-phase thermal decomposition of metal−organic precursors. 30,31 However, the use and synthesis of MMOs is complicated by the presence of different metal species.…”