An inorganic hydrothermal route to photocatalytically active bismuth vanadate

BiVO4 has attracted research interest as one of the most promising visible-light-driven oxidic photocatalysts for water splitting and wastewater treatment. Highly crystalline BiVO4 particles with a homogeneous morphology are now available from a straightforward, one-step hydrothermal protocol. The facile morphology control of BiVO4 particles in the Bi(NO3)(3)center dot 5H(2)O/V2O5/K2SO4 hydrothermal system is achieved through K2SO4 as an inorganic additive that brings forward materials with a high photocatalytic activity. BiVO4 particles generated from this inorganic additive-assisted approach outperform BiVO4 materials obtained via other preparative routes in the decomposition of methylene blue (MB) under visible light irradiation. The relations between morphology, crystallinity and photocatalytic O-2 evolution in the presence of AgNO3 and FeCl3 as sacrificial reagents were studied with respect to the hydrothermal optimization of material properties. Furthermore, the Bi(NO3)(3)center dot 5H(2)O/V2O5/K2SO4 hydrothermal system brings forward potassium vanadate fibers as a second phase that also exhibits promising photocatalytic properties with respect to the decomposition of MB in the presence of visible light. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.