Facet engineering of BiVO4 photocatalyst for the synergetic adsorption and activation of persulfate for organic pollutants degradation

Highly efficient and synergetic adsorption and activation of persulfate are the main challenges of the persulfatebased advanced oxidation processes. Herein, we synthesized a series of BiVO4-X with tunable ratios of (010)/ (1 1 0) co-exposing facet to remove the sulfamethoxazole (SMX) via the regulation of adsorption and activation of peroxydisulfate (PDS). Under visible light, the BiVO4-2 with the (01 0)/(1 1 0) co-exposing facet ratios of 1.5 can efficiently remove 95.71% SMX in 120 min. Based on the PDS adsorption concentration-texture coefficient model (C-TC), Density functional theory (DFT) calculation and relevant experiments, we confirm the top (010) facet of BiVO4-X can act as the reactive plane to adsorb the PDS via a hanging method. And the photo/electrochemical tests show the facet-dependent internal charge transfer from the (110) to the activated (010) facet in the BiVO4X. Finally, we propose the synergistic mechanism of adsorption and activation of PDS via the BiVO4-X for organic pollutants degradation. This work develops a new method to precisely regulate the co-exposed facets of crystal materials and illuminates the synergetic mechanism of the simultaneous adsorption and activation of PDS via the regulation of co-exposing facets of the BiVO4 in the persulfate activation system.

Automated summary

In this study, we successfully synthesized BiVO4-X with tunable ratios of (010)/(1 1 0) co-exposing facet and investigated the effect of co-exposing facets on persulfate adsorption and activation. The results revealed the synergistic mechanism of BiVO4-X in efficiently degrading organic pollutants by simultaneous adsorption and activation of persulfate through the regulation of co-exposing facets. This work provides new insights into the precise control of crystal materials and their applications in persulfate activation systems.