Flower-like BiVO4 microspheres and their visible light-driven photocatalytic activity

Arini Nuran Zulkifili, Akira Fujiki, Shinji Kimijima

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A flower-like BiVO4 microsphere photocatalyst was synthesized with a simple template-free homogeneous precipitation method at 60 °C for 24 h. The purpose of this study is to explore a low-cost, simple method of synthesizing the self-assembled 3D structure in order to enhance photocatalytic performance under visible light irradiation (λ > 420 nm). In this study, the morphology, structure, and photo-absorption of flower-like BiVO4 microspheres were characterized, and the effects of photocatalysis were analyzed. The results indicate that the size of the flower-like microspheres was about 2 μm to 4 μm and they were composed of several nanosheets. The mechanism of hierarchical microsphere formation has been proposed as the Ostwald ripening process and the self-assembled process. The obtained samples were calcined under different temperatures (300 °C, 400 °C, 500 °C and 600 °C) to study the effects of calcination on the structure and on photocatalysis. The photocatalytic process was then evaluated by decolorization of methylene blue dye under visible-light irradiation.

Original languageEnglish
Article number216
JournalApplied Sciences (Switzerland)
Volume8
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018 Jan 31

Keywords

  • Bismuth vanadate
  • Low-cost method
  • Methylene blue dye
  • Microspheres
  • Photocatalyst
  • Visible light

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Materials Science(all)
  • Instrumentation
  • Engineering(all)
  • Process Chemistry and Technology
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes

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