Synthesis of novel activated carbon/BiVO4 nanocomposite photocatalysts for degradation of organic compounds in wastewater

Abstract

Novel activated carbon/BiVO4 nanocomposite photocatalysts were straightforwardly prepared via an impregnation method. All the samples were characterized by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectra (UV-vis DRS) and photoluminescence (PL) techniques. The photocatalytic efficiency of activated carbon/BiVO4 nanocomposite photocatalysts was estimated by rhodamine B dye degradation under visible light illumination. Results revealed that composited activated carbon on the surface of BiVO4 importantly improved the photocatalytic efficiency. In addition, the composited activated carbon was assisted to fast reduce in the recombination of photogenerated charges, resulting in enhanced photocatalytic efficiency. The amount of composited activated carbon had affected the photocatalytic efficiency. The 5.0 mol% activated carbon showed the highest photocatalytic efficiency for the degradation of rhodamine B dye under visible light irradiation. Moreover, the photocatalytic efficiency of 5.0 mol% activated carbon/BiVO4 nanocomposite photocatalyst showed a slight loss after five runs for rhodamine B dye degradation. The radical trapping experiments and mechanism of the improved photocatalytic efficiency in the degradation of rhodamine B dye were also proposed.