High Energy Ball-Milling Synthesis of Nanostructured Ag-Doped and BiVO4-Based Photocatalysts

Abstract

Nanostructured composites based on plasmonic Ag metal nanoclusters with monoclinc-BiVO4 nanoparticles were prepared by high energy ball milling technique. The agglomerated morphology with a spherical shape of 50–100 nm sized BiVO4 particles associated with homogeneous distribution of 5–10 nm Ag clusters significantly enhanced the photocatalytic activity for the degradation of acid blue dyes. The Ag doping concentration with BiVO4 was optimized at 3 at. % leading to almost 10 folds faster photocatalytic degradation rate as compared to pristine form. Thus, Ag doped BiVO4 nanocomposites show efficient visible light driven photocatalytic activity due to charge distribution at the semiconducting-metal interfaces from band bending and the involvement of a radiation field enhanced by plasmon resonance effects at the surfaces of Ag-clusters.