Silver vanadate nanowires: photocatalytic properties and theoretical calculations

Silver vanadate (beta-AgVO3) nanowires were synthesized by a hydrothermal method, assisted with surfactant, and evaluated for degradation of 2-propanol under visible-light irradiation. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) revealed the beta-AgVO3 nanowires were of uniform size-several micrometers long and similar to 20 nm in diameter. According to the diffuse reflectance spectrum of the beta-AgVO3 nanowires their energy band gap was 2.2 eV, corresponding to a wide range of visible-light absorption up to 550 nm. The electronic structure of beta-AgVO3 was calculated theoretically on the basis of density functional theory. The beta-AgVO3 nanowires catalyst had greater photocatalytic activity than commercial N-TiO2 in the degradation of 2-propanol under visible-light irradiation. This was mainly ascribed to the narrow band gap, good crystallinity, and large surface-to-volume ratio of beta-AgVO3 nanowires.