Comparison study of BiVO4 heterojunctions photocatalyst with different carbon materials

作者:Wang, Yongqiang*; Liu, Siyao*; Zhao, Chaocheng; Liu, Fang; Han, Fenglei; Liu, Chunshuang
来源:Research on Chemical Intermediates, 2017, 43(11): 6627-6638.
DOI:10.1007/s11164-017-3010-8

摘要

MWCNT/BiVO4 and RGO/BiVO4 heterojunctions were synthesized by the sol-gel method, and the photocatalytic activity of MWCNT/BiVO4 and RGO/BiVO4 were evaluated by monitoring the degradation of RhB in a heterogeneous photocatalytic reactor. The catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results indicated that a series of heterojunction structure composites were successfully synthesized, the heterojunction structure playing a crucial role in the electron-hole recombination. The crystal structure of BiVO4 was still monoclinic after the doping of MWCNT and RGO according to the XRD analysis, while the active sites of MWCNT/BiVO4 and RGO/BiVO4 were more than pure BiVO4. The RGO with a two-dimensional carbon sheet expressed higher performance than MWCNT with a one-dimensional carbon sheet for BiVO4 because the layered structure of the RGO had a stronger electron-trapping capability than MWCNT. The optimal MWCNT content was 2%, and the 6% RGO/BiVO4 showed the highest photocatalytic degradation efficiency of RhB. The photocatalytic degradation efficiency remained above 80% after five cycle tests.