Synthesis of tetragonally stabilized lanthanum doped bismuth vanadium oxide nanoparticles and its enhanced visible light induced photocatalytic performance

Abstract

ABSTRACT In order to enhance the performance of bismuth vanadium oxide (Bi4V2O11) we synthesized La doped Bi4V2O11 in different concentrations (La = 5%, 10%, 15%) by using sol-gel method. The nanoparticles are stabilized in tetragonal phase in the range of 50 nm particle size. With the help of XPS it was confirmed that in La/Bi4V2O11 lattice La is in 3+ oxidation state and replaces Bi3+ in the lattice. SEM and EDX show the amorphous nature and chemical compositions of the nanoparticles. The structural analysis and energy calculations revealed that La3+ ion replaces Bi3+ in Bi4V2O11 lattice without disturbing its host structure. The PL results revealed that photogenerated charges recombination was significantly reduced. The photocatalytic degradation of MB under visible light illumination is performed and the best photocatalytic activity among various compositions of La/Bi4V2O11 is shown by 15% La/Bi4V2O11 nanoparticles. 15% La/Bi4V2O11 photocatalyst show 98% of degradation of MB in 120 mins.