title: CTAB-assisted synthesis of monoclinic BiVO4 photocatalyst and its highly efficient degradation of organic dye under visible-light irradiation.
abstract: A highly efficient monoclinic BiVO(4) photocatalyst (C-BVO) was synthesized by an aqueous method with the assistance of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). The structure, morphology and photophysical properties of the C-BVO were characterized by XRD, FE-SEM and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, respectively. The photocatalytic efficiencies were evaluated by the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB) under visible-light irradiation, revealing that the degradation rate over the C-BVO was much higher than that over the reference BiVO(4) prepared by aqueous method and over the one prepared by solid-state reaction. The efficiency of de-ethylation and that of the cleavage of conjugated chromophore structure were investigated, respectively. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) values of the RhB were measured after the photocatalytic degradation over the C-BVO and demonstrated a 53% decrease in COD. The effects of CTAB on the synthesis of C-BVO were investigated, which revealed that CTAB not only changed the reaction process via the formation of BiOBr as an intermediate, but also facilitated the transition from BiOBr to BiVO(4). Comparison experiments were carried out and showed that the existence of impurity level makes significant contribution to the high photocatalytic efficiency of the C-BVO.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1295 Dingxi Road, Shanghai 200050, PR China.
authors.forename: Wenzong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Wenzhong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Songmei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D001729:Bismuth / Q000528:radiation effects*; D002384:Catalysis; D000077286:Cetrimonium; D002593:Cetrimonium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D004396:Coloring Agents / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D003460:Crystallization; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D008027:Light; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D010100:Oxygen / Q000737:chemistry; D010316:Particle Size; D055668:Photochemical Processes; D010777:Photochemistry; D012235:Rhodamines / Q000737:chemistry; D014638:Vanadates / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D002593:Cetrimonium Compounds; D004396:Coloring Agents; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D012235:Rhodamines; C091754:bismuth vanadium tetraoxide; D014638:Vanadates; C029773:rhodamine B; D010100:Oxygen; D001729:Bismuth; D000077286:Cetrimonium