Effect of BiVO4 Crystalline Phases on the Photoinduced Carriers Behavior and Photocatalytic Activity

A series of different crystalline phases BiVO4 photocatalysts (tetragonal, monoclinic, and monoclinic/tetragonal heterophase) have been prepared by a coprecipitation and molten salt method. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) results show that an interface of intimate contact is formed in monoclinic/tetragonal heterophase and monoclinic phase is mainly on the surface of nanoparticles. Surface photovoltage (SPV) and transient photovoltage (TPV) techniques are used to further investigate the transfer process of photoinduced charge carriers. The results show that the behavior of photoinduced charges markedly depend on the crystalline phases of BiVO4 samples, and the presence of interface in monoclinic/tetragonal heterophase provides a spatial condition for charge transfer, promotes the separation of photoinduced electron-hole pairs, and changes the migration direction of photoinduced carriers. The relationship between behavior of photoinduced charge carriers and photocatalytic activity was discussed in detail, which would provide a greater insight into the intrinsic reasons of the enhancement in photocatalytic activity.