In-situ synthesis of BiVO4 QDs/cellulose fibers composite for photocatalytic application

In this work, a biofiber was used as the natural polymer carrier to design a BiVO4 QDs/cellulose fiber composite for photocatalytic application. The biofiber was obtained from bamboo, which was green, abundant and short growth cycle in Asia. Naturally rich groups of biofiber provided many sites to absorb the Bi3+ to form the uniform distribution for BiVO4 QDs. Moreover, a series of results indicated the strong connection was formed between biofiber and BiVO4 QDs, which could increase the stability and electron transfer. Therefore, the new composite photocatalyst exhibited better stability and effectively photocatalytic activity. Moreover, the possible mechanism of synthesis and photocatalytic were discussed, which provided insight for synthesizing photocatalytic based on biomaterials. (C) 2019 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.