Surfactaut-free synthesis of hyperbranched monoclinic bismuth vanadate and its applications in photocatalysis, gas sensing, and lithium-ion batteries

Hyperbranched monoclinic BiVO4 (h-BiVO4) has been synthesized on a large scale and with good uniformity by a surfactant-free hydrothermal route. h-BiVO4 consists of four trunks with branches distributed on opposite sides. From observation of the intermediates at an early stage of the reaction process, it can be seen that during formation h-BiVO4 has different growth rates along the a, b, and c axes. Based on crystal structure analysis and experimental results, h-BiVO4 Shows preferential growth along the [100] direction, and subsequently, along the [010] and [001] directions. As-synthesized h-BiVO4 exhibits excellent photocatalytic ability in the photodegradation reaction of an aqueous solution of RB under visible light. Electrochemical measurements predict that h-BiVO4 possesses high sensitivity to formaldehyde and ethanol gases, favorable discharge capacity, and capacity retention, which indicate potential applications in the fields of sensing devices and lithium-ion batteries.