BiVO4 nanoparticles: Preparation, characterization and photocatalytic activity

Venkataraman Sivakumar,Vengidusamy Narayanan,Krishnan Giribabu,Ranganathan Suresh,Alexandra Martha Zoya Slawin

doi:10.1080/23312009.2015.1074647

Abstract

AbstractBismuth vanadate (BiVO4) nanoparticles were synthesized by a simple thermal decomposition method. The synthesized bismuth vanadate nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis, it is found that the synthesized sample belongs to monoclinic BiVO4. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirms the formation of Bi-O bond in the sample. Ultraviolet–Visible (DRS-UV–Visible) spectroscopy and photoluminescence spectroscopy reveal the optical property of the BiVO4 nanoparticles. The morphology was identified by both scanning electron microscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Further, the photocatalytic activity of BiVO4 nanoparticles was investigated by photodegradation of methylene blue as a model organic pollutant.

Highlights

Metal vanadate nanoparticles have considerable importance in various fields such as catalysis, photocatalysis, batteries, and implantable cardiac defibrillators (Crespi, Somdahl, Schmidt, & Skarstad, 2001; Konta, Kato, Kobayashi, & Kudo, 2003; Mai et al, 2010; Valeria & Floris, 2011)
We report the simple thermal decomposition method for the preparation of bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) nanoparticles
The prepared BiVO4 nanoparticles were dispersed in acetone using ultrasonication and required amount of dispersion was introduced on a carbon-coated copper grid, and were allowed to dry in air for high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) analysis. 2.4

Summary

Introduction

Metal vanadate nanoparticles have considerable importance in various fields such as catalysis, photocatalysis, batteries, and implantable cardiac defibrillators (Crespi, Somdahl, Schmidt, & Skarstad, 2001; Konta, Kato, Kobayashi, & Kudo, 2003; Mai et al, 2010; Valeria & Floris, 2011). Among the various metal vanadate nanoparticles, an intense effort has been devoted to the synthesis and characterization of BiVO4, due to its unique properties such as ferroelasticity, optical, and conductivity (Sarkar & Chattopadhyay, 2012). It is used as gas sensor, solid-state electrolyte, and electrode for batteries and as yellow pigment (Smith, 2002). It is used for water splitting, (Akihide, Yun, Yoshimi, Akihiko, & Rose, 2011) degradation of organic pollutant (Wenzong, Wenzhong, Lin, Songmei, & Ling, 2010), and O2 evolution (Zhiqiang et al, 2011). Kudo, Omori, and Kato (1999) first reported the photocatalytic activity of BiVO4. Wang et al (2013) reported the methyl orange degradation behavior of BiVO4 under visible light irradiation

Methods

Results

Conclusion