Visible-light driven degradation of ibuprofen using abundant metal-loaded BiVO4 photocatalysts

Abstract

An efficient method for the degradation of ibuprofen as an aqueous contaminant was developed under visible-light irradiation with as-prepared bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) catalysts. The metal-loaded catalysts Cu–BiVO4 and Ag–BiVO4 were synthesized using a hydrothermal process and then a wet-impregnation method. All of the materials were fully characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and BET surface area. The results indicated that all of the prepared samples had monoclinic scheelite structures. In the metal-loaded catalysts, silver existed as a mixture of Ag and Ag2O on the surface of the catalysts. However, copper existed as Cu2O and CuO. Additionally, the band gap values of BiVO4, Ag–BiVO4, and Cu–BiVO4 were 2.38, 2.31, and 2.30eV, respectively. Compared to the BiVO4 catalyst, the metal-loaded BiVO4 catalysts showed superior photocatalytic properties for the degradation of ibuprofen.