Semiconductor Photocatalytic Materials Research Articles

Enhanced visible light utilization of BiOI/BiOBr/Bi composite catalytic materials for photocatalytic degradation of TC and reduction of Cr(Ⅵ)

The rational design and construction of semiconductor photocatalytic materials are important significance for efficient utilization of solar energy and enhancement of photocatalytic activity. In this study, composite photocatalytic materials modified with Bi0 on the surface of BiOI/BiOBr heterojunction were successfully constructed based on the current mature electrostatic spinning technology by using solvothermal and in-situ reduction methods. The successful preparation of BiOI/BiOBr/Bi composites was confirmed by a series of characterization methods. The composite photocatalyst was applied to the degradation of pollutants, and by adjusting the addition ratio of different substances, it was found that the photocatalytic composites prepared with the addition of 0.125 mmol NaBH4 and the ratio of I/Br of 3:1 showed the best performance. The degradation efficiency of the catalyst for tetracycline hydrochloride (TC) at 10 mg/L reached 98.4 % after 180 min of visible light irradiation, and the high degradation performance of the material was maintained after five cycles. Meanwhile, the reduction efficiency of the material for Cr(VI) was 98.2 % after 100 min of visible light irradiation. Free radical trapping experiments demonstrated that photogenerated holes (h+) and superoxide radicals (•O2−) are the main active substances for photocatalytic degradation of TC. Due to the partial reduction of Bi0, the absorption of the catalyst in the near-infrared region was enlarged, which enhanced the photothermal effect of the whole material and further improved the catalyst activity.

The Preparation of g-C3N4/ZnIn2S4 Nano-Heterojunctions and Their Enhanced Efficient Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production.

Hydrogen production technology has triggered a research boom in order to alleviate the problems of environmental pollution and the pressure on non-renewable energy sources. The key factor of this technology is the use of an efficient photocatalyst. g-C3N4 is a typical semiconductor photocatalytic material that is non-toxic and environmentally friendly and does not cause any serious harm to human beings. Therefore, it can be applied to drug degradation and the photocatalytic production of H2. Combined with ZnIn2S4, this semiconductor photocatalytic material, with a typical lamellar structure, has become one of the most promising catalysts for research due to its suitable bandgap structure and excellent photoelectric properties. In this study, 10% g-C3N4/ZnIn2S4 nano-heterojunction composite photocatalytic materials were successfully prepared by compounding ZnIn2S4 and g-C3N4 semiconductor materials with good visible-light-trapping ability. Under visible light irradiation, the photocatalytic activity of the composites was significantly better than that of pure g-C3N4 and ZnIn2S4. This is attributed to the formation of a heterojunction structure, which effectively inhibited the recombination of photogenerated carriers through the interfacial contact between the two semiconducting materials, and then improved the separation efficiency of the photogenerated electron-hole pairs, thus enhancing the catalytic activity. In this study, pure g-C3N4 and ZnIn2S4 were prepared using calcination and hydrothermal methods, and then, the composites were synthesized using ultrasonic and hydrothermal means. The differences in the structure, morphology, and hydrogen production performance of the materials before and after recombination were analyzed in detail using XRD, SEM, and FTIR characterization, which further verified that the 10% g-C3N4/ZnIn2S4 nano-heterojunction composites possessed excellent photocatalytic activity and stability, providing new possibilities for the optimization and application of photocatalytic hydrogen production technology.

Earth-abundant quaternary chalcogenide copper zinc tin sulfide-based nanocomposites CZTS-gCN and CZTS-GO (graphene oxide) as photocatalysts for degradation of methylene blue

This study explores the potential of Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) as an environmentally friendly and nontoxic semiconductor photocatalytic material with a narrow band gap. The research focuses on investigating, photocatalytic degradation of Methylene Blue (MB) using CZTS-based nanocomposites prepared through hydrothermal approach. The experiments conducted in this study aim to determine the kinetics of photodegradation and adsorption of MB. Several models are applied to the experimental data to understand the underlying principles governing photocatalysis. The CZTS-gCN and CZTS-GO nanocomposites are thoroughly characterized using various analytical techniques such as X-ray diffraction for phase purity and crystallite size, Scanning Electron Microscopy, and other characterization are also employed to observe the morphology, phase structure, optical band gap, recombination of charge carriers The study discusses a potential method for enhancing the photocatalytic performance of the CZTS nanocomposite under light conditions. The photodegradation rate of MB dye is evaluated, showing a remarkable 64% degradation.

BiVO4-based heterojunction nanophotocatalysts for water splitting and organic pollutant degradation: a comprehensive review of photocatalytic innovation

Abstract The novel semiconductor photocatalytic material bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) is gaining significant attention in research due to its unique characteristics, which include a low band gap, good responsiveness to visible light, and non-toxic nature. However, intrinsic constraints such as poor photogenerated charge transfer, slow water oxidation kinetics, and fast electron–hole pair recombination limit the photocatalytic activity of BiVO4. Building heterojunctions has shown to be an effective strategy for enhancing charge separation and impeding electron–hole pair recombination over the last few decades. This review covers the state-of-the-art developments in heterojunction nanomaterials based on BiVO4 for photocatalysis. It explores heterojunction design, clarifies reaction mechanisms, and highlights the current developments in applications including photocatalytic water splitting and organic matter degradation. Finally, it offers a preview of the development paths and opportunities for BiVO4-based heterojunction nanomaterials in the future. This comprehensive assessment of BiVO4-based heterojunctions provides insightful knowledge to researchers in materials science, chemistry, and environmental engineering that will drive advances and breakthroughs in these important fields.

Enhancing Dy2O3/g-C3N4 visible photocatalytic hydrogen production performance by loading graphene-like carbon from Enteromorpha prolifera (EP-GL)

Using Enteromorpha prolifera (EP) as a raw material, biomass graphene-like carbon (EP-GL) can be prepared and used as a cocatalyst to modify semiconductor photocatalytic materials, which contributes to achieving a sustainable development strategy. In this study, graphene-like carbon was successfully obtained from EP biomass through high-temperature pyrolysis. It was then used to modify a Dy2O3/g-C3N4 semiconductor composite photocatalyst using a simple microwave hydrothermal method. The incorporation of EP-GL not only acted as a transfer channel for photogenerated electrons and enhanced the separation of photogenerated carriers, but also significantly increased the specific surface area of the catalyst, providing more active sites for photocatalytic reactions. Additionally, the heterojunction formed between Dy2O3/g-C3N4 aided in the separation of electron-hole pairs, further improving the efficiency of photocatalytic hydrogen production. The composite catalyst achieved a hydrogen generation rate of 683.16 μmol⋅g−1⋅h−1 in ethylene glycol solution and 723.57 μmol⋅g−1⋅h−1 in glucose solution. These rates were 3.84 and 3.56 times greater than those of Dy2O3 alone, respectively. This demonstrated the superior performance of the ternary composite photocatalyst in harnessing visible light for efficient hydrogen production.

Multisite Cocatalysis: Single atomic Pt2+/Pt0 active sites synergistically improve the simulated sunlight driven H2O-to-H2 conversion performance of Sb2S3 nanorods

Single atomic metal (SAM) cocatalysis is a potential strategy to improve the performance of photocatalytic materials. However, the cocatalytic mechanism of SAM sites in different valence states is rarely reported. Herein, single atomic Pt2+/Pt0 active sites were anchored on Sb2S3 nanorods to synergistically improve the photoactivity for hydrogen production under simulated sunlight. Experimental results and density functional theory calculations indicated that the coexistence of single atomic Pt2+/Pt0 sites synergistically improves the broadband light harvesting and promotes the Sb2S3-to-Pt electron transfer following inhibited photoexciton recombination kinetics and enhanced H proton adsorption capacity, resulting higher and more durable photoactivity for hydrogen production. Therefore, the optimal Sb2S3-Pt0.9‰ composite catalyst achieved remarkably enhanced hydrogen evolution rate of 1.37 mmol∙g−1∙h−1 (about 105-fold greater of that of Sb2S3 NRs) under faintly alkaline condition, and about 5.41 % of apparent quantum yield (AQY700 nm) was achieved, which shows obvious superiority in hydrogen production by contrasting with the reported Sb2S3-based photocatalysts and conventional semiconductor photocatalytic materials modified with noble metals. This study elucidate a well-defined mechanism of multisite cocatalysis for photoactivity improvement.

Fabrication of oxygen-rich vacant 3D Zn–CuBi2O4/MMT photocatalysts and the enhancement of its photocatalytic performance

Semiconductor catalytic materials have excellent photocatalytic degradation performance for organic pollutants, and photocatalytic degradation is considered to be the most promising technology for environmental pollution treatment. Bismuth-based bimetallic oxide CuBi2O4 is widely recognized as one of the most valuable and promising semiconductor photocatalytic materials because of its narrow bandwidth, strong visible light absorption and excellent chemical stability. To further improve the photocatalytic activity of CuBi2O4, the Zn-doped CuBi2O4/montmorillonite composites were prepared by employing a synergistic control strategy of doping and oxygen vacancies (OVs), which efficiently regulated the electronic structure and the number of active sites to achieve a rapid separation of photogenerated charges. The doping of zn2+ significantly increased the quantity of oxygen vacancies in the prepared materials. The BET revealed that the incorporation of montmorillonite (MMT) greatly increased the specific surface area of CuBi2O4. The experimental findings indicated that 5 % Zn–CuBi2O4/MMT0.6 possessed abundant oxygen vacancies and longer fluorescence lifetime, resulting in better photocatalytic performance. The removal rate of butyl xanthate was 99.31 % in 40 min, and the removal rate of tetracycline hydrochloride (TC) was 93.17 % in 180 min. The 5 % Zn–CuBi2O4/MMT0.6 could effectively inhibit e−/h+ complexation and provide richer catalytic active sites by doping to construct a flower-like oxygen-rich vacancy defect structure, which significantly improves its catalytic performance. The results of the cycling experiments showed that the stability and reproducibility of the 5 % Zn–CuBi2O4/MMT0.6 composites were excellent, the present study provides an innovative idea for the development of efficient and stable visible light photocatalytic applications.

Boosting the photocathode performances of protected Cu2O inverse opals using photonic-crystal heterostructures

Cuprous oxide (Cu2O) is a highly efficient p-type semiconductor photocatalytic material with the capability for visible light absorption. In this work, three-dimensional Cu2O inverse opals with different diameters were prepared using the electrochemical deposition method. The photocathode performances were enhanced by adjusting the wavelength of photonic band gap, being co-modified by Au and Ag nanoparticles, applying the protective layers, and fabricating a photonic-crystal heterostructure with another p-type semiconductor. The slow-light effect leads a 23.9 % increase in photocurrent density. The co-modification of Au and Ag nanoparticles achieves a 77 % average increase in photocurrent density compared with pure Cu2O inverse opals. Conformal protective layers, consisting of ZnO and Al2O3 and deposited using atomic layer deposition, prevent the photocorrosion of the Cu2O photocathode while preserving its photocatalytic activity. After one hour of illumination, the photo-generated current density of protected Cu2O inverse opals is nearly three times higher than that of their uncoated counterparts. By fabricating Ag-doped ZnO with p-type characteristics and combining it with Cu2O into a heterostructure, the saturated photocurrent density of the Ag-doped ZnO/Cu2O heterostructure reaches −3.78 mA/cm2, which is almost 3.2 times higher than that of pristine Cu2O inverse opal at −0.12 V vs RHE.

Hydrogen production by visible light photocatalysis with Chl@g-C3N4/Ti3C2Tx S-scheme heterojunction

Sustainable conversion of solar energy to hydrogen energy by photocatalytic splitting of water through the use of semiconductor photocatalytic materials is considered to be a promising and sustainable alternative proposal to replace conventional fossil fuels. However, efficient solar-driven photocatalytic hydrogen production has remained a great challenge due to the prevailing problems of existing semiconductor photocatalytic materials. It is shown that constructing heterostructures is a very powerful way to improve the photocatalytic hydrogen production capacity of composites under visible light. Therefore, in this work, an organic heterojunction structure based on chlorophyll (Chl) molecules and graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) is reported and exploited for efficient solar energy-driven photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Meanwhile, noble metal-free photocatalysts were successfully constructed with Ti3C2Tx MXene nanosheets through a simple stepwise complexation process of Chl, g-C3N4, and Ti3C2Tx for the achievement of HER for the photocatalytic decomposition of water. The results show that the optimal Chl@g-C3N4/Ti3C2Tx organic heterojunction composite has a remarkably advanced HER performance of 131 μmol/h/gcat, as compared with the traditional Chl@Ti3C2Tx and g-C3N4/Ti3C2Tx composites. The results provide new ideas for exploring MXene based catalysts for highly efficient conversion of solar energy.

Research progress of Fe/C doped titanium dioxide visible light photocatalytic materials

Titanium dioxide (TiO2), as a wide gap semiconductor photocatalytic material, has the characteristics of non-toxic, low cost and excellent catalytic activity. It is widely used as photocatalytic materials. Much efforts have been devoted to the Fe/C doping for TiO2 to improve its visible light response. This work reviews the research progress of Fe/C doped titanium dioxide visible light photocatalytic materials. The photocatalytic mechanism, preparation methods of doped titanium dioxide have been specifically reviewed. Finally, on the basis of the researches of our team in nonaqueous precipitation method, the preparation of Fe/C doped titanium oxide visible light photocatalytic materials by nonaqueous precipitation method is prospected.

Study on g-C3N4/BiVO4 Binary Composite Photocatalytic Materials

Recent studies have shown that the composite of semiconductor photocatalytic materials and g-C3N4 can effectively inhibit photocatalytic carrier recombination and enhance the adsorption performance of the composite photocatalytic materials, so that the composite photocatalyst has stronger photocatalytic activity. In this paper, three kinds of graphitic carbon nitride photocatalyst g-C3N4 with different morphologies were prepared using the same precursor system by the chemical cracking method. After characterization and application, the sample with the most significant photocatalytic activity was selected and the g-C3N4/BiVO4 heterostructure was synthesized by the simple solvent evaporation method, then the photocatalytic experiment was carried out. The results show that, when the content of BiVO4 in the composite sample is 1%, the photocatalytic activity of RhB was the highest, and the degradation rate could reach 90.4%. The kinetic results showed that the degradation of RhB was consistent with the quasi-primary degradation kinetic model. The results of the photocatalytic cycle experiment show that the photocatalytic performance remains unchanged and stable after four photocatalytic cycles. The existence of a g-C3N4/BiVO4 binary heterojunction was confirmed by UV/Visible diffuse reflection (UV-DRS) and photoluminescence (PL) experiments. Owing to the Z-type charge process between BiVO4 and g-C3N4, efficient carrier separation was achieved, thus enhancing the photocatalytic capacity. This work provides a new idea for the study of heterojunction photocatalytic materials based on g-C3N4.

In-situ synthesis of direct Z-scheme 2D/2D ZnIn2S4@CeO2 heterostructure toward enhanced photodegradation and Cr(VI) reduction

The rationally designed semiconductor photocatalytic materials have attracted significant attention because of their huge advantages in the use of solar light. Herein, a series of direct Z-scheme heterojunction nanocomposites were synthesized via in situ growth of zinc indium sulfide nanosheets on ceria nanosheets (ZnIn2S4@CeO2) and employed for effective photodegradation and Cr(VI) reduction. Advanced characterizations such as XPS, EPR spectra, and DFT calculations verified that the formation of direct Z-scheme charges transfer mechanism promoted rapid charge separation and retained strong redox capacity. As a result, the optimized ZnIn2S4@CeO2 sample showed significantly promoted photocatalytic removal rates for tetracycline (TC) and Cr(VI) at a 3.7 and 4.5 times enhancement by comparison with the pristine ZnIn2S4, respectively. Additionally, after four consecutive cyclic tests, the as-synthesized nanocomposite exhibited remarkable photocatalytic activity and stability. The present work provides an integrated engineering strategy for Z-scheme photocatalyst systems with high photocatalytic efficiency and extensive applications.

Preparation of g-C3N4/TNTs/CNTs Photocatalytic Composite Powder and Its Enhancement of Antifouling Performance of Polydimethylsiloxane Coatings.

Semiconductor photocatalytic materials have shown potential in the field of antifouling due to their good antibacterial properties, stability, and nontoxic properties. It is an effective way to use them to improve the static antifouling performance of silicone antifouling coatings. g-C3N4/TNTs/CNTs (CNTC) photocatalytic composite powders were prepared and introduced into polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) coatings to enhance their antifouling performance. Firstly, g-C3N4/TNTs with heterostructure were thermally polymerized by urea and TiO2 nanotubes (TNTs), and then g-C3N4/TNTs and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were composited to obtain CNTC. Finally, CNTC was added into PDMS to prepare g-C3N4/TNTs/CNTs/PDMS (CNTC/P) composite antifouling coating. The results showed that CNTC successfully recombined and formed a heterostructure, and the recombination rate of photogenerated carriers decreased after recombination. The addition of CNTC to PDMS increased the hydrophobicity and roughness while reducing the surface energy (SE) of the coatings. CNTC could effectively improve the anti-attachment performance of PDMS coatings to bacteria and benthic diatom. The bacterial attachment rate (AB) and benthic diatom attachment rate (AD) of CNTC/P-20 were, respectively, 13.1% and 63.1%; they are much lower than that of the coating without photocatalytic composite powder. This coating design provides a new idea for developing new “efficient” and “green” photocatalytic composite antifouling coatings.

Construction of Highly Dispersed Ni Sites on N‐rich Carbon Nitride for Enhanced Photocatalytic NO Removal

AbstractIntelligent active site engineering to harness photogenerated charge carriers and motivate surface reactions is at the core of catalysis. Herein, highly dispersed Ni sites are planted on C3N5, an N‐rich carbon nitride, by a facial two‐step annealing method to construct a Ni‐C3N5 material. The incorporation of Ni sites can significantly enhance the e–/h+ separation efficiency of C3N5 under light irradiation and promote the activation of O2 to produce reactive oxygen species. Compared with pristine C3N5 (with NO removal ratio of ≈35%), the as‐prepared 0.1‐ or 0.25‐Ni‐C3N5 material can remove ≈54% continuous‐flowing NO (initial concentration: 600 ppb) quickly in less than 25 min under white LED light irradiation. The long‐term photocatalytic performance demonstrates that the catalyst is stable without obvious attenuation in activity. The findings of the trapping experiments and in situ diffuse reflectance infrared fourier transform spectroscopy tests suggest that •O2− may mainly convert NO into NO2, while •OH and 1O2 play a significant role in the NO2 to NO3– conversion reaction. The present work brings new insights into the design of active sites on semiconductor photocatalytic materials for the treatment of NOx species.

Graphdiyne based GDY/CuI/NiO parallel double S-scheme heterojunction for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

As a new kind of two-dimensional (2D) layered carbon allotrope, graphdiyne (GDY) is rarely studied in the application field of photocatalytic hydrogen production. In addition, the efficient construction of photocatalyst heterostructure is a promising strategy to improve the yield of hydrogen production from photocatalytic split of water. Therefore, it is an excellent method to construct heterostructure photocatalytic system by introducing GDY into semiconductor photocatalytic materials. Herein, it is an excellent method to construct heterostructure photocatalytic system by introducing the cuprous iodide based 2D layered carbon allotrope (GDY) into metallic oxide semiconductor (NiO). Thus, a ternary hybrid photocatalyst (GDY/CuI/NiO) was prepared by in situ ultrasonic agitation method. X-ray diffraction, SEM, transmission electron microscope and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results showed that NiO nanosheets were successfully adsorbed by GDY/CuI. In addition, the composite catalyst (GDY/CuI/NiO) showed excellent photocatalytic performance, which performed a high hydrogen production activity of 5955 μmol g−1 and good stability in the 20 h hydrogen production experiment. Amorphous GDY provides more active sites for the process of hydrogen evolution in this photocatalytic system. Most importantly, the construction of S-scheme heterojunction promotes electron transfer and plays an important role in enhancing the hydrogen production activity. These findings provide new ideas for realizing efficient solar hydrogen production system.

Single-step synthesis of novel Bi2Fe4O9 nanosheets for high-efficient photocatalytic CO2 reduction to CO

It is rather essential to design efficient semiconductor photocatalytic materials to achieve CO2 green conversion to solar fuels. In this work, novel Bi2Fe4O9 nanosheets are successfully synthesized by a facile hydrothermal method, and applied to the photocatalytic CO2 reduction to CO for the first time. The good nanosheet structure and suitable redox potential of Bi2Fe4O9 bring out not only good photo-effect capability but also effective photo-generated carriers, leading to excellent CO2 photo-reduction activity with CO generation rate of 17.66 μmol·g−1·h−1 (10 h), more than ultramodern reported 13.1 μmol·g−1·h−1 (8 h) of Bi4Ti3O12 hollow-spheres and 3.975 μmol·g−1·h−1 (8 h) of (BiO)2CO3 under simulated sunlight irradiation. More importantly, its performance remains at about 98% after ten consecutive cycle tests, indicating the excellent active stability of Bi2Fe4O9. This work provides new insights into designing and preparation of Bi2Fe4O9-based semiconductor photocatalysts for high-efficient photocatalytic CO2 reduction to CO in the future.

Surface oxygen vacancies modified Bi2MoO6 double-layer spheres: Enhanced visible LED light photocatalytic activity for ciprofloxacin degradation

Oxygen vacancies can regulate the energy band structure of semiconductor photocatalytic materials, and serve as electron traps and active sites to improve the photocatalytic activity of the photocatalyst. Herein, we prepared Bi2MoO6 flower spheres with a double-layer structure by a simple solvothermal method, and achieved the controllable introduction of oxygen vacancies through subsequent air calcination at different temperatures. The double-layer structure of Bi2MoO6 improved the light absorption because of multiple reflections. Compared with the pristine Bi2MoO6, the introduction of oxygen vacancies regulated the energy band structure of Bi2MoO6, improved the separation and transfer rate of electron-hole pairs, and produced more active species such as h+ and 1O2. Among all samples prepared, BMO-350 had the best activity, which could degrade 90.6% of ciprofloxacin (10 mg/L) within 80 min under the irradiation of 6000 K visible LED light. While under ultraviolet, 3000 K, 4500 K, 6000 K visible, red Led light and xenon lamp irradiation, the CIP degradation efficiency reached 94.9%, 73.77%, 85.9%, 89%, 16.24%, and 94.7%, respectively, demonstrated that the appreciable photocatalytic activity under the low energy light source.

Sulfur doping and structure defect functionalized carbon nitride nanosheets with enhanced photocatalytic degradation activity

Carbon nitride (C3N4) is a promising semiconductor photocatalytic material to treat residual pollutants in water. However, the limited visible light absorption and severe recombination of photoinduced carriers restrict the further development of C3N4 photocatalyst. Herein, sulfur doping and structure defect simultaneous functionalized C3N4 nanosheets (SCN-T) were prepared by convenient copolymerization of dicyandiamide and thioacetamide followed by thermal oxidation etching process. The SCN-T can not only harvest more visible light due to sulfur doping by lifting the valence band and conduction band, but also exhibit stronger reduction ability originated from combined effect of doping and exfoliation, higher separation and transfer efficiency and prolonged average lifetime of photoinduced carriers than pristine bulk C3N4 because of defect and sheet structures. The photocatalytic activity of the SCN-T was evaluated by performing the degradation experiments of Rhodamine B (RhB) and tetracycline hydrochloride (TC-HCl), and the results show that SCN-T exhibits a significant enhanced photocatalytic degradation activity. The degradation rate constants for RhB and TC-HCl over the SCN-T are 4.95 times and 2.07 times that of pristine bulk C3N4, respectively. The work provides valuable information for the activity optimization on the basis of composition and structural properties.

Enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production on tin disulfide self-assembled from ultrathin sheets with sulfur vacancies generated by doping indium ions

In consideration of comparable ionic radius between indium ions and tin ions, indium-doped SnS2 (In/SnS2) sample was designed and synthesized by one-pot solvothermal method. Its multi-level structure composed of 10-nm-thick ultrathin sheets can enhance utilization efficiency of solar light. The substitution of trivalent indium ions for tetravalent tin ions causes indium to form a negative charge center and simultaneously produces sulfur vacancies positively charged. As expected, the production of hydrogen on doped sample is up to 470 µmol g−1, which is about twice as high as that on SnS2. This is attributed to hierarchical structure composed of ultrathin sheets and effective attraction of hydrogen ions by negative charge on trivalent indium ions. The results suggest that doping the ions whose ionic radius is close to the radius of the anions or cations in the material into the lattice sites may provide a new tactic for the design of semiconductor photocatalytic materials.

Synthesizing pyridinic-N dominate-doped graphene/BiVO4 nanocomposite as a superior photocatalyst for degradation under visible-irradiation

Abstract The disadvantage of bismuth vanadate (BiVO4), a metal oxide semiconductor photocatalytic material, can be overcome by constructing nitrogen-doped graphene-based nanocomposites. Here we state to synthesis pyridinic-N doped graphene/BiVO4 nanocomposite (N-rGO/BiVO4). Because of many defects were existed pyridinic N-rGO, more tiny particle size and interaction from abundant interfacial, between BiVO4 and N-rGO sheets, can produce synergistic effects and enhance photocatalytic performance. N-rGO/BiVO4 composite has a large light absorption range and high photocatalytic activity compared with BiVO4 and rGO/BiVO4. XPS, PXRD, HRTEM, FESEM, UV–vis, PL. etc analytical methods are used to characterize samples and the change of bandgap of samples is verified through theoretical analysis and simulation. After photocatalytic testing, the decomposition of methylene blue dye just required only 80 min under visible light and photocatalytic degradation efficiency of 99.3%. N-rGO/BiVO4 has great potential for the removal of refractory pollutants from wastewater.