Controlled synthesis of T-shaped BiVO4 and enhanced visible light responsive photocatalytic activity

A novel T-shaped BiVO4 microcrystal photocatalyst was successfully synthesized by the hydrothermal method with the aid of a structure-directing surfactant SOBS in the present study. Having received well characterization with the aid of various techniques and the results showed that the SOBS greatly changed the microstructure of BiVO4, which had a unique T shape and belonged to the monoclinic family. The fast exchange dynamics between the surfactants bound to the Bi3+ seed surface and the free VO3- in the solution significantly increase the rate of heterogeneous nucleation. In addition, the photocatalytic activity of the prepared T-shaped BiVO4 was evaluated by the degradation of Methylene Blue solution under visible light irradiation, 17% and 47% higher decolorization rates than the commercial P25 and BiVO4 synthesized without SOBS, respectively. Meanwhile, it has been found that the degradation kinetics of MB fitted the pseudo-first-order kinetics and the T-shaped BiVO4 also displayed high photocatalytic performance for metronidazole degradation. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.