Highly efficient visible light-induced photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue over InVO4/BiVO4 composite photocatalyst

Abstract

A highly efficient and visible light responsive photocatalyst was developed by indium vanadate (InVO 4 )/ bismuth vanadate (BiVO 4 ) composite photocatalyst. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectra, XPS, zeta potential, and photoluminescence techniques. The XRD, TEM, and XPS results indicated the prepared sample was actually a two-phase composite: InVO 4 and BiVO 4 . Photocatalytic activities of all catalysts were evaluated for the degradation of methylene blue in aqueous solution under visible light irradiation. The highest activity was obtained in the InVO 4 /BiVO 4 composite using 0.8:0.2 mol ratio of InVO 4 :BiVO 4 . On the basis of the calculated energy band positions, the mechanism of enhanced photocatalytic activity was discussed.

Effect of Cu doping on the photocatalytic activity of InVO4 for hazardous dye photodegradation under LED light and its mechanism

“…The PZC of the photocatalysts was determined to be in the range of pH 2.32-2.58 as illustrated in Figure S4, similar to previous reports (Lamdab et al 2015). The protonation and deprotonation of the catalyst surface will take place depending on the pH of the solution.…”

La<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>/Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>-CeO<sub>2</sub> Composite Oxide Catalyst and Its Performance

“…The degradation reaction of methylene blue can be described by the first-order reaction kinetics: ln (c 0 /c t ) = kt + q e , where c 0 and c t are the concentration of methylene blue at the initial time and each interval time during irradiation, respectively, k is the first-order rate constant, t is the irradiation time and q e is a constant. A high k-value usually implies the fast reaction rate of efficient catalysts [21]. The calculated k value (in Figure 6) is 0.074, 0.063 and 0.060 min −1 for sample-CP, sample-SG and sample-HT, respectively, which indicates that the sample-CP catalyst exhibits the highest photocatalytic activity.…”

Electrospun Mesoporous InVO4/TiO2 Nanobelts with Enhanced Photocatalytic Properties

“…Orthorhombic InVO 4 nanomaterials have been known as a kind of ideal photocatalyst for the degradation of organic pollutants under visible light irradiation, due to the wide light absorption, narrow bandgap (2.0 eV) and no secondary pollutants . Unfortunately, the high recombination rate of photoelectron–hole (e – /h + ) pairs of pure InVO 4 nanomaterials is detrimental to the photocatalytic efficiency; therefore, it has been an urgent issue that has to be solved for the low photocatalytic efficiency caused by photoinduced carrier recombination.…”

“…Based on the semiconductor band engineering, the integration of two semiconductors with different bandgaps could be an efficient way for the separation of photoinduced carriers, delaying the recombination of electron–hole pairs and maximizing the photocatalytic efficiencies . Although the researches on InVO 4 /TiO 2 heterostructures with different morphologies, such as films , nanofibers and nanocomposites , have been explored, only a limited number of literatures are covered about one‐dimensional (1D) InVO 4 ‐based nanobelts, which could inhibit the carrier recombination in photocatalysis, thus improving the photocatalytic activity .…”