Utilizing samarium doped BiVO4 microspheres for solar-Powered photocatalysis and Microbial Defense

Abstract

Due to their unique features and numerous uses, samarium-doped bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) photocatalysts have recently attracted a lot of interest from researchers in the area of photocatalysis. In this work, the synthesis of BiVO4 nanoparticles, both unmodified and doped with Sm3+, using a co-precipitation technique, is thoroughly examined. It is worth mentioning that the photocatalytic efficacy of Sm3+-doped BiVO4 nanoparticles was higher than that of pure BiVO4 nanoparticles. This is because the band gap was reduced and the synergistic effects of Sm3+ ions worked together to effectively suppress the recombination of photo-generated charge carriers. Improving charge carrier migration and separation, and thus photocatalytic performance is dependent on the introduction of samarium dopants. Additionally, samarium-doped bismuth vanadate was investigated for its antibacterial properties, and it was shown that it could eliminate bacteria and other germs in both watery and airborne settings using photocatalytic activity. When Sm3+ ions were added to the BiVO4 matrix, the antibacterial activity was significantly increased when tested against a variety of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, including, but not limited to, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, and Proteus vulgaris. Most importantly, the photocatalyst showed remarkable stability and recyclability; at a doping level of 7 wt% Sm3+-doped BiVO4 performed optimally. This work presents a simple method for synthesizing BiVO4 nanoparticles by co-precipitation, which shows great potential for the effective removal of organic pollutants and microbes from polluted water sources. The generated nanoparticles may be either pure or doped with Sm3+.