Visible-Light Nanostructured Photocatalysts—A Review

Abstract

This paper reviews the recent research and development of novel visible-light induced photocatalysts with nanostructures. In recent years, Ag3PO4-based and BiVO4-based nanomaterials have drawn wide attention due to their narrow band gap and excellent photocatalytic performance. The development of the new material covers the synthesis condition, unique morphology, further modification which focused on the Ag3PO4 and BiVO4, respectively. Meanwhile, titanium dioxide has already become one of the classical photocatalyst. However, the band gap of TiO2 (3.2 eV) limits its efficient utilization of solar energy, two categories novel modification methods of TiO2 are proposed to make them active under visible light illumination. Using polymers and dye to modify TiO2 is a wonderful approach to achieve excellent electronic and optical properties mainly in aspect of photocatalytic application. Therefore, the paper summarizes novel nanosized photocatalysts with visible-light response including Ag3PO4-based, BiVO4-based and TiO2-based materials, and suggests the further research prospect for the visible-light induced photocatalysts.

Ag3PO4/CoFe2O4 magnetic nanocomposite: synthesis, characterization and applications in catalytic reduction of nitrophenols and sunlight-assisted photocatalytic degradation of organic dye pollutants

“…3,4 Therefore, the development of novel efficient photocatalysts, particularly visible light responsive catalysts, is necessary for the efficient utilization of solar energy in photocatalysis. [5][6][7] Developing a novel photocatalyst with efficient visible-light absorption and excellent stability remains a great challenge.…”

“…, h + and cOH, effectively react to degrade the dye molecules to CO 2 , H 2 O or other products (eqn (6) Furthermore, RhB and MB dyes demonstrate the strong absorption bands in the visible region at wavelengths of 552 and 663 nm. Therefore, they can undergo photosensitization under visible sunlight irradiation.…”

Mechanism of the Formation of Hierarchical-structured Bismuth Tungstate Photocatalyst Particles through Counter-flow Supply of Bismuth and Tungsten Sources

“…5 In other words, only empirical guidelines such as higher specific surface area and/or higher crystallinity have been believed to be necessary. 6 Particle morphology also seems to be one of those guidelines; it has been reported in many papers 7,8 that nano-or microstructured particles show higher photocatalytic activities than those of particles without morphological features. Taking into account that those characteristic morphologies originate in the crystal structure of a material, particles having characteristic morphology can be highly crystallized and thereby possess fewer crystal defects, reducing the probability of photoexcited electronpositive hole recombination.…”

Photochemical Preparation of Ag/SnO2 Composites and their Photocatalytic Properties

“…The potogenerated electrons on SnO 2 are powerful reductants and can immediately reduce Ag + in the solution to produce Ag on the surface of SnO 2 to form Ag nuclei (see (2)). Once the Ag nuclei are formed, the followed produced Ag will grow on Ag nuclei.…”

“…In recent years the development of efficient photocatalysts caused widespread concern [1][2][3]. Oxide semiconductors (such as TiO 2 [4][5][6], SnO 2 [7,8] and ZnO [9,10], etc.)…”