BiVO4/TiO2 heterojunction with enhanced photocatalytic activities and photoelectochemistry performances under visible light illumination

Publication date: Available online 22 April 2019Source: Materials Research BulletinAuthor(s): Yan-Ran Lv, Chao-Jun Liu, Run-Kai He, Xin Li, Yue-Hua XuAbstractThe heterostructured BiVO4/TiO2 composites were fabricated by a hydrothermal method using hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide as dispersant. The coupling of BiVO4 and TiO2 notably enhanced the photocatalytic activity of RhB degradation under visible light irradiation. The degradation rate constant (k) of 74.4%BiVO4/TiO2 reached to 10.5 and 4 times as much as those of TiO2 and BiVO4, respectively. Based on the calculation and experimental results, a possible mechanism of the enhanced photocatalytic activity of BiVO4/TiO2 was proposed, which was confirmed by the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and the photocurrent test. The similar valence band energy of BiVO4 and TiO2 in the photocatalytic system endows BiVO4/TiO2 with strong oxidizability. This excellent photocatalytic performance benefits from the enhanced visible-light absorption ability and the improved separation efficiency of photogenerated charge carriers. This simple method can be applied to the development of various heterostructures with high performance for different applications in photocatalysis, photovoltaics, and sensing.Graphical Abstract
Source: Materials Research Bulletin - Category: Materials Science Source Type: research