title: High-performance porous spherical or octapod-like single-crystalline BiVO4 photocatalysts for the removal of phenol and methylene blue under visible-light illumination.
abstract: Monoclinic BiVO(4) single-crystallites with a polyhedral, spherical or porous octapod-like morphology were selectively prepared using the triblock copolymer P123 (HO(CH(2)CH(2)O)(20)(CH(2)CH(CH(3))O)(70)(CH(2)CH(2)O)(20)H)-assisted hydrothermal method with bismuth nitrate and ammonium metavanadate as metal source and various bases as pH adjustor. The BiVO(4) materials were well characterized and their photocatalytic activities were evaluated for the removal of methylene blue (MB) and phenol in the presence of a small amount of H(2)O(2) under visible-light illumination. It is shown that the pH value of the precursor solution, surfactant, and hydrothermal temperature had an important impact on particle architecture of the BiVO(4) product. The introduction of P123 favored the generation of BiVO(4) with porous structures. The BiVO(4) derived hydrothermally with P123 at pH 3 or 6 possessed good optical absorption performance both in UV- and visible-light regions and hence showed excellent photocatalytic activities for the degradation of MB and phenol. It is concluded that the high visible-light-driven catalytic performance of the porous octapod-like BiVO(4) single-crystallites is associated with the higher surface area, porous structure, lower band gap energy, and unique particle morphology. Such porous BiVO(4) materials are useful in the solar-light-driven photocatalytic treatment of organic-containing wastewater.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Catalysis Chemistry and Nanoscience, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of Environmental and Energy Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Haiyan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Xue
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.forename: Hongxing
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.forename: Jiguang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Yuxi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Zhenxuan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Ruzhen
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D001729:Bismuth / Q000737:chemistry*; D002384:Catalysis; D008027:Light; D008751:Methylene Blue / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D010636:Phenols / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D055668:Photochemical Processes; D014638:Vanadates / Q000737:chemistry*; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D010636:Phenols; C091754:bismuth vanadium tetraoxide; D014638:Vanadates; D008751:Methylene Blue; D001729:Bismuth