One–pot synthesis of Bi4V2O11/BiVO4 heterostructure with enhanced photocatalytic activity for dye degradation

Abstract

Photocatalytic technology is one promise strategy for organic pollutant elimination from aqueous environment. In this work, a novel and facile one–pot hydrothermal method was developed to fabricate type II Bi4V2O11/BiVO4 heterostructure basing on the adjusting of ethylene glycol (EG) usage. In hydrothermal procedure, the addition of EG promoted the formation of Bi–O–Bi structure for nucleation of Bi4V2O11 and m–BiVO4. And m–BiVO4 took the lead in growing, subsequently Bi4V2O11 bred on (112) m–BiVO4 to form intimate contract between these two semiconductors. In comparison with pure BiVO4, Bi4V2O11/BiVO4 exhibited more excellent photocatalytic activity toward RhB. And a total of 91.1% RhB was photodegraded by optimal Bi4V2O11/BiVO4 within 90 min. The enhanced photocatalytic performance of Bi4V2O11/BiVO4 was mainly ascribed to the efficient spatial transfer of charge carrier in heterostructure. Besides, the formation mechanisms of heterostructure and photodegradation reaction for RhB were proposed based on the morphology observation and quenching experiment, respectively. Furthermore, it found that the photodegradation property of Bi4V2O11/BiVO4 toward RhB was influenced by the syntheticaction of crystal facet, overlapping extent of atomic orbitals, content of Bi4V2O11 and specific surface area.