Nitrogen and carbon encapsulated heterophasic bismuth vanadate nanostructures: Synthesis and application in visible light driven textile dye degradation

Heterophasic BiVO4 nanoparticles with nitrogen and carbon shell structure were synthesized by a simple yet energy efficient solution combustion route using glycine as the fuel. The intended BiVO4 phase formed in a short time, at a low temperature (250 degrees C) without the requirement of further thermal annealing process. This nanophotocatalyst was investigated for its dye degradation activity on aqueous methylene blue under visible (white) light. It was found that synergetic combination of the presence of nitrogen containing carbon coating on the BiVO4 particles, and the novel heterostructure (phase mixtures constituting monoclinic scheelite and tetragonal scheelite) resulted in the rapid and highly efficient degradation (- 90.19 % and - 97 % in the first 20 min and 120 min, respectively) of aqueous methylene blue. The reusability of the nanophotocatalyst for dye degradation was tested for a total of five consecutive cycles, with the last cycle exhibiting an impressive efficiency of - 82% and - 93.4 %, in the first 20 min and 120 min, respectively. Thus, our nanophotocatalyst has combined advantages of easy, quick and one step synthesis along with high chemical stability while demonstrating rapid and efficient dye degradation under visible light irradiation. This evinces the nanophotocatalyst a potential candidate for large scale dye degradation in a short duration of time.

Automated summary

Heterophasic BiVO4 nanoparticles with nitrogen and carbon shell structure were synthesized using glycine as the fuel through a simple and energy-efficient solution combustion route. The nanophotocatalyst exhibited rapid and highly efficient dye degradation of aqueous methylene blue under visible light irradiation, thanks to the synergetic combination of nitrogen-containing carbon coating and the novel heterostructure. The nanophotocatalyst also demonstrated high chemical stability and reusability for dye degradation.